


A muse's temptation

by Croliv_writes



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: All the teasing, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ardynoct is of course the mainpair, M/M, Masturbation, Modeling, Phone Sex, Teasing, art in general, because my city needs some love and New York is waaay too mainstream, from physical attraction to love, it starts with nakedness and a flustered Noct, nude art, takes place in berlin, there may be some references to something written by Oscar Wilde, with added drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2018-12-08 04:55:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11639361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Croliv_writes/pseuds/Croliv_writes
Summary: Noctis is just a art student, eager to learn new things and that's why he is participating in some nude painting course at his university. And their model for the first weeks is none other than Ardyn Izunia, a famous former model. And Noctis crush is back full force and how should he survive the course and the teasing?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sylencia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylencia/gifts), [Eowyn (eowynsmusings)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eowynsmusings/gifts), [Raiya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raiya/gifts).



> This all started out as a discussion over some piece of art and ended in, well, writing this fic. How fitting Ardyn would be as a former model, a known face and Noctis as a rising art student, who just wants to learn something. It kinda escalated and the persons involved know this very well.
> 
> Thanks to [Eowyn (eowynmusings)](http://archiveofourown.org/users/eowynsmusings/profile) for beta'ing the story. You are a saint. ♥

Berlin was loud, sometimes obnoxiously so, but a multitude of cultures clashed in this city, even in the train. There had to be noise. Spanish and English could be heard and sometimes animated and loud talking from a group of teens. Or the occasional person yelling into their phone so that basically everyone in close range, or the whole train compartment could hear what what they were talking about. Noctis sat, hunched over his sketchbook on his way to the university, one earphone plugged in. He didn't want to miss his station, although he knew by heart now when to exit the train. Some passengers he already recognized and sometimes smiled at them, should their gazes meet for a short moment.

The girl with the flower bag sat across from him again, eyes fixed on some point next to Noctis, lost entirely in her thoughts. Her fingers drummed against her thigh in time with the music she was listening to. She always had her flower bag with her and at least one piece of her clothes or her shoes matched those flowers with a similar pattern. Noctis sketched her again, his pencil scratching over the paper in practiced strokes, something he could do in his sleep as well he believed. Which wouldn't surprise him. After all, he sometimes did fall asleep at his desk. Like yesterday. His neck still hurt as did his back when he stretched his shoulders, the muscles protesting ever so slightly.

Then at the next station someone had started to play music with his cajon. Noctis glanced in the general direction and one corner of his mouth lifted up. The dude with the dark blond dreadlocks. Another one of the regular passengers, but every time he played a different song. Noctis pulled the earpiece out and his own music stopped as he unplugged the cable from his phone. Thank God it had a function that the song that is currently playing stopped when he did that. It would have been annoying and embarrassing for Noctis, if his music blared out of his phone for everyone to hear.

The young man hummed his song in tact with the slap of his hands against the wooden surface and Noctis turned the page in his book and started to draw him. He captured the bobbing of his head and how his locks bounced up and down with the movement, the fast pace of his hands slapping in a flurry of lines on the paper. The distant look in the eyes of the musician.

Soon they passed the Alex and more people flooded into the compartment and his view of the man was cut off. Sighing, he turned to another page and quickly glanced around again. No one caught his attention, so he started to draw a landscape he had dreamed of. A cliff, where one could look out at the ocean and feel the breeze and smell the scent of salt in the air, almost tasting it. At the bottom was a small beach, more stone than sand. It was terrifying and beautiful as nature always was and would be for humans.

He only could work in grayscales for the picture and he cross-hatched the sky, working darker lines into the stone. Then he glanced up and saw that he needed to leave at the next station and that meant pushing through the crowd of people, mostly tourists now, because who of the normal working people would ride the train around 11 am through the city? Apologizing as he pushed to the door he then stood before it, sighing. The doors slide open automatically and he stepped out fast, lest the people would push him out of it, complaining rather loudly for him to hear. It had happened a few times, if Noctis was too slow for their tastes.

Glancing at the clock on his phone a sigh left Noctis lips. Bus missed, meant he had to walk again to the university. He would have done it anyway, as it was sometimes faster than the bus. Noctis walked into the opposite direction of most people, away from the cinema and the Ku-Damm. They could all leave their money in the expensive shops or the Europa Centre.

“Hey, Mister Broody!” a voice called out and Noctis turned with a smile, as Crowe nearly hopped up to him, slinging her arm around his shoulder. “Did you sketch random people again?” she asked, motioning with her head to his sketchbook, which he still clutched in his hands.

“Yeah, good way to pass the time. You wanna look?” The woman nodded, her bangs bobbing with the motion.

“Sure. God, I don't wanna have my acting classes today. The piece is just so...bad. Written by one of the other students. Mine is the next,” Crowe said and flipped through the pages, smiling at the picture of the woman and the musician. “You draw them often. But interesting how you captured Mr. Dreadlock here.”

“Yours is next after that? Was it the thing you gave me the other day to read?”

“Yup, thought I needed an outside opinion. From someone that has no idea of stage production.” She grinned and Noctis shook his head with an amused smile plastered to his face.

“Today will be another theory day for me, except in the evening. There is an evening course of nude painting. And the professor already teased she got a famous face as our model.”

Crowe laughed. “So at least everyone can enjoy painting a naked person?”

“Well, probably.” He shrugged and grinned, as Crowe nudged him with her elbow. “Though I am really curious who she got…”

“Maybe a real model? Or an actor?” Crowe mused and pursed her lips. They neared the university and Noctis already felt giddy. Maybe the day wouldn't be that bad after all. He could push through the lessons.

“You will see and then you will tell me. Maybe you could take a photo or two for me.”

“Crowe!” Noctis gaped at her and the woman just laughed at his expression, gleefully so.

“Just joking.” Crowe snickered and half hugged him. “Thought I can look at your sketch then, right? I mean you are fucking good…”

She leaned her head on his shoulder while they walked and sighed dramatically. Noctis simply shoved her gently and shook his head.

“Nyx, Libertus and I will meet in the evening in that one cool mexican restaurant, where  cocktails are cheap and super tasty. I think we took you with us at least once.”

“I don't know when the course ends and when it is late I just wanna go home and sleep.” Noctis said and smiled apologetically at Crowe, who just shrugs and grins at him.

“Then we see each other tomorrow?”

Noctis nodded and she hugged him goodbye when they stood before the university doors. She jogged up the stairs and away she was. Noctis glanced at the sun and enjoyed the warmth on his skin until he had to go and find his room for the day.

 

* * *

 

The evening rolled around much faster than Noct had anticipated and he sat on his stool with excitement bubbling up in his stomach. Not everyone in his class took the course to improve himself. To learn how to draw a living being, not just fruits or objects.

Capturing the essence of a live object was harder and so much more exciting. To get the character right on paper, the same aura and perhaps charisma of that person. Noctis managed it somewhat, because he doodled random people. Or his friends. Or his dad when Noctis visited him once in awhile.

Mrs. Fuchs, their professor, entered the room and clapped her hands to get the attention of the occupants. She waited until everyone gazed at her with curiosity, expectancy, giddiness. “So, that's the whole group now? Well, more space for us to scatter around the room. And I know how _much_ you want to know who I invited.”

She leaned out of the door and beckoned to someone, stepping inside. “I hope you will recognize him as you should have seen his face in some campaigns. The dear Ardyn Izunia is our model today. We are quite lucky to have him here.”

As she spoke, Ardyn entered the room, already clad in just a white fluffy bathrobe and Noctis just stared at him. Of course he had seen his face. The man had been a rather successful male fashion model until he retired two or three years ago and he still appeared in some ads at times.

But it was entirely different to see the man in the flesh; he now swayed into the middle of the room and into the middle of their little circle. Just a chair stood there. Ardyn looked hot and what they could see already underneath the robe shouldn't be ignored either. He wasn't thin, had a healthy weight and was slightly muscular.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Ardyn sing-songed and simply flopped down on the chair, not caring when the still closed bathrobe slid off his body. Noctis had hit the jackpot as he could look straight at Ardyn's face, and other areas of his body.

“Before you all start, I wanted to say something about this kind of art. Nude art can be put in a sexual context, and most of the time this happens, but what we are doing here has nothing to do with said context. I want you to study the human body, the anatomy. Simple as that. Nothing erotic about it. See it as a surgery without the blood and the cutting of skin; you all should have a neutral view onto this. One or two of you will really benefit from this as a big improvement. And you should learn to be fast and still have a detailed picture, because Ardyn will change his stance or position in the next one and half hour,” Mrs. Fuchs said and closed the door, smiling.

Noctis was still in awe that she had somehow contacted Ardyn, who sat on the chair so very casually, legs spread apart a bit too widely and Noctis felt a blush creep up his skin.

Ardyn had also made a campaign for a perfume in the past, where he had been nearly naked, except that he had worn a black silken blanket and of course he had seduced women with it. Ads and campaign worked like that. You had to promise the mass something - success. Whether at work or in bed.

“My face is up here, my dear.” Ardyn spoke with an amused tone and Noctis would have loved to die or be swallowed up by the floor as his gaze had stayed a bit too long at Ardyn's midsection and dick. Noct felt his ears and cheeks burn and the other students chuckled. He stole a glance at the others rather quickly and they looked far more relaxed and some already had started scribbling in their sketchbooks.

Noctis sighed and shook his head, flapping through the pages until he found a blank one. Ardyn still didn't move, leaving the robe on like that, eyeing Noctis. He felt the weight of those amber eyes on him, almost burning. The man didn't move for the next few minutes and every time Noct's gaze flitted up and over Ardyn's body the man just smirked a bit more. It was unnerving and he couldn't really concentrate on his task of _just_ capturing Ardyn.

This was bad. But still he drew, his pencil scratching over the paper marking out the fluffiness of the robe. Soon the oh so familiar excitement gripped Noctis and his lips quirked up.

And then Ardyn slid the bathrobe off entirely and dropped it to the ground. Then he put his bare sole on the chair and his forearm on his knee, kinda mimicking the trademark pose of Captain Morgan. “A small change for your sore eyes.” Ardyn just commented and had half turned away from Noctis. The other students and the teacher chuckled, but Noctis had already started scribbling again, putting more effort into it and trying to get all the details right.

Ardyn's stubble, his light smirk and the curls of his hair. His nicely shaped ass and legs. His stomach muscles and his dick. This time Ardyn just threw him a one side glance, but he also looked at the others, though his smirk didn't reach his eyes. It looked for a brief moment professional. The professor walked through the room circling her students and commenting a bit on their art and what they could change and improve if they made mistakes.

“Wow, Noctis,” she whispered as she walked to him, glancing over his shoulder. “Really good. Keep it up.” She patted his shoulder and Noctis chuckled, warmth spreading through him thanks to the praise.

Another few minutes passed and Ardyn changed his position again, sitting backwards on the chair, turning it around, so Noctis stared at his back, muscles moving as he shifted into a comfortable position. Noctis peered up.

In that manner the minutes ticked away and sometimes Ardyn would say something or joke, so that the students could relax and laugh a bit. It felt good and Noct had thought this lesson would be far more strict and perhaps boring, but Ardyn was the perfect entertainer, even though he was stark naked. Soon their teacher clapped her hands again, indicating that indeed the time was over. Noctis blinked and hastily shaded his piece, concentrating on Ardyn's thighs. The light of the room highlighted the muscles just so and Noctis tried to capture that before the man moved and stretched, humming.

“So, how did you liked the evening? Just a short answer is okay or even a thumbs up,” the professor said and briefly smiled at Noctis, who finally stopped drawing and looked up.

One of the students lifted her hand. To Noct's terror Ardyn didn't put his robe back on, but simply walked up to Noctis, smirk firmly in place. The student glanced curiously at them before she shook her head. “It was definitely something different and I really liked it. And it wasn't boring. So when do we do it again?”

Ardyn chuckled and raised a brow at Noctis who firmly looked up at him. Thank God he sat on a stool and not a chair or he would have had Ardyn's dick at the level of his eye. “May I take a look?” the man drawled and Noctis held out his sketchbook, grip too tight. The former model gently pried the book from his hand, their fingers touching lightly - accidently of course.

Noct must have looked like the reddest tomato that existed in the world, what with Ardyn standing there casually beside him - naked. The man hummed as he gazed at the four drawings, genuinely smiling now. “That is...something different. Precise and sometimes _very_ vague in the details. And I cannot help but wonder how much you put your heart into it?”

Confused Noctis gaze strayed, flitting over Ardyn's body. He wanted to say “too much”, but that alone would reveal the inner world of Noctis. An artist always put his feelings into a picture.

Which reminded him of the dialogue in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, but it was true. That was why critique or rejection of one’s art hurt the most and praise was the best balm. Noctis fiddled with the seam of his shirt, gaze now fixed on the ground, while Ardyn took his sweet time looking at the drawings. His professor just watched them with a small smile.

“We can arrange that we meet here twice for the next… three weeks, if Ardyn wants to be the model I wouldn't mind it,” she said and looked at the man, who just hummed thoughtfully. “Thursday is next.”

“If the students aren't bored of me, that is.” All shook their head and Noctis just mumbled, “No. You’re funny.”

Ardyn glanced at him and gave him his book back, strolling back to the robe he had dropped on the floor to cover himself. Noctis tore his gaze away from that glorious ass and cursed himself internally.

When he had been younger he had a crush on Ardyn, seeing the man in a few campaigns and sometimes on TV in a show. There had been times when the man was away in other countries, doing some modelling and Noctis had googled a few pics.

Now, now he could draw the man for the next few weeks - naked, posing for them. Noctis breathed deep through his nose and shook his head. Ardyn now walked around to look at the other students’ studies, but he never lingered as long beside them as he had done with Noctis. It made him a bit proud.

“You can pack up guys and we see each other tomorrow. Don't forget your theory books again!” the professor called after two girls, who had packed up their things pretty fast and giggled, talking in hushed tones. Probably about their model and perhaps newest crush to sigh about.

Noctis put his sketchbook into his bag and gave himself some time. There was no need to rush out of the room and Ardyn waited at the door, leaning casually against the doorframe, smiling.

“Bye, Mrs. Fuchs.”

“Good bye, Noctis.” she called and smiled, following him to close and lock the room. Ardyn stepped into the hall. The rest of the students already scurried along the hall, quickly disappearing. Noctis shook his head and wondered what they just thought. They had one of the most famous male models as a reference to draw and they could have talked to him and they didn't use that chance.

“Maybe you have finally found your muse, my dear?” Ardyn asked, a small smile dancing on his lips as he looked down at Noctis, eyeing him up and down again.

“The name is Noctis,” he told the older male, who chuckled and nodded, mumbling his name under his breath. “And I always draw people when I am on a train ride to university or back. But...it today was nice.”

Ardyn walked with Noctis a few metres before stopping in front of another room, probably to dress again. The man leaned against the door frame.

“Shall I give you a ride home?” the man offered casually. Noctis just blinked and opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again to think about it.

Actually he now wanted to meet up with Crowe and the others, and even call Gladio, Prompto and Ignis to come as well. And he knew the three of them would, because it had been quite some time since they all last met in a group. Why not drink to Noctis new course, and luck?

Noctis shook his head, smiling apologetically. “No, I wanted to meet my friends at a restaurant and it is not that far with the train. Thanks for the offer though.”

“Okay, then next time,” Ardyn drawled, sure of himself. Then his smile turned wicked. “Greet your friends from me and say ‘I hope they enjoy the drawings as well.’ Until Thursday, Noctis.”

Noctis blinked again and a blush crept up his cheeks, neck and ears. Had Ardyn really been insinuating that Noctis would enjoy the pictures? Of course he would, but still… His skin prickled, not uncomfortable, no. “Uhm, bye.” He just said and quickly turned around, Ardyn's laugh following him through the hall until he walked down the stairs.

 _“Crowe, made up my mind. Order me something strong. I’m on my way.”_ He typed quickly to the woman and her answer was a cheery smile and stars, followed by _“Done”_

 

* * *

 

As Noctis walked up to the table, Libertus cheered and said, “Look, Prince Broody graces us with his presence.”

Noctis rolled his eyes and slid up the couch to sit next to Crowe, who pushed his cocktail in front of him. She smiled at him and waited. Just like Nyx and Libertus. “I’ll show them to you, but first I need of few sips...the others are coming too.” He took a long sip and then sighed, raising his brow as he found himself on the receiving end of three people staring at him with curiosity.

“It is a fashion model and it’s Ardyn Izunia,” Noctis said and pressed his lips together as Libertus just laughed as if this was a joke and Nyx eyebrow twitched. Crowe’s lips just curled up into a satisfied smile.

“No way! You’re lying, Noct,” Libertus simply said, taking a swig of his beer and shaking his head. Noctis just pulled up his bag and searched for his sketchbook, dropping it on the table.

“I have a proof.” Then Noctis explained how the evening had gone and that he had been at the receiving end of the man's teasing. Libertus laughed at the sketch of Ardyn posing as Captain Morgan and his laughter was quite booming, making a few other guests turn their heads to their table. Some glared and others looked curious as to why the man laughed that much and loud.

“You really _fucking_ got an eyeful. Bet he did that on purpose.” He finally said as he got his laughter under control, which died down to a few giggles. Nyx simply looked at the sketches and Crowe just was like an excited child, bobbing up and down on the couch.

“Now let me look. C’mon.” Crowe said and stretched her hand out, wiggling her fingers. Libertus gave her the book and Crowe whistled as she saw the pictures from a better angle.

“The worst thing was that after it was over he walked up to me, still very _naked_ and asked if he could look at the sketches.” Noctis murmured and his cheeks were red again. Now Libertus laughed again with Nyx joining in.

“He is _totally_ hitting on you,” Nyx breathed between laughing and Libertus needed a few attempts until he could speak again.

“He wants to fuck you,” Noctis just dropped his head on the table and whined.

“ _Who_ wants to fuck Noctis?” a deep voice asked and Noctis groaned, as he recognized Gladio. “Seems we always drop in at this part of a conversation.”

Noctis slid closer to Crowe, who moved too, to make place for Gladio. Another table was put next to theirs to accommodate Prompto and Ignis. The blonde immediately ordered his favorite drink, while Ignis flipped through the menu. Noctis slowly lifted his head and patted Gladios thigh as a weak hello.

“Bet Noct told you about the nude painting course and well... the teacher got a former model. And none other than Ardyn Izunia,” Crowe informed the three and smirked. “And the man clearly wants Noctis.”

“Didn't you have a crush on him when we were in school?” Prompto asked and glanced at Crowe, clearly wanting to see the newest additions to Noctis book.

“Oh yes, you did, Noct. God, it was _terrible_ .” Gladio laughed and smirked as Noctis punched him in the shoulder. “Stop doing that, Twig, or you might hurt your _precious_ little hand.”

“Please… He even wanted to give me a ride home,” Noctis mumbled and sipped his drink to avoid further talking. Now all eyes were on him.

“He...what?” Prompto asked and stared at Noctis in disbelief.

“Go, get him, Noctis,” Crowe urged and pressed herself into his side, cuddling him. “This is your chance.”

Noctis looked skeptical at her. What if it was only his imagination running wild, but if he replayed the evening in his head, that really wasn’t the case. Ardyn very much had given _him_ more attention than the others. Hell, he would have driven Noctis home if he hadn't said he would spend the evening with his friends. But even if it would work out, what if Ardyn only wanted some fling, a few nights and then would drop him like a used doll? And then the age gap!

“How old is this dude anyway?” Libertus asked and Noctis blinked at the man. Could he read his mind? Prompto was fast to react and googled it in a matter of seconds, somehow always having the best internet connection no matter where they were.

“39, turns 40 this year. Wow, he could be your dad.” Prompto said and chuckled. “Living the daddy kink.”

Noctis had enough and balled up one of the red napkins and threw it at his best friend, who tried to block that soft attack. Prompto threw the ball back at Noctis. He glared daggers at the blond.

“Ardyn offered Noctis a _ride_ home , ” Crowe piped up and smirked devilishly, echoing his words and phrasing the word _ride_ differently, when Noctis’ gaze flicked to her. Then his best friend snickered, as he seemed to think of something _very funny_ , which meant it wasn't funny at all and would be at Noctis’ expense.

“Maybe Noct should offer _riding_ Ardyn as a thank you.” Prompto giggled, using the same tone as Crowe and another napkin-ball flew against the blond’s head. Libertus snorted and Ignis just shook his head. Gladio smirked, seemingly wanting to comment on it as well, but then thinking better of it and Crowe coughed, disguising her beginning chuckle.

“Shut it, Prompto,” Noctis growled, taking the menu and flipping through the pages. He was hungry. Nachos with lots of cheese sounded far too good. “Would someone share a portion with me? Just look at plates.” A waiter walked by and carried three very nicely smelling plates to another table and two people could eat from one of the plates alone.

“I would,” Crowe chimed and smiled at Noctis. Then they waited until another of the numerous waiters walked to their table to ask for more drinks, Nyx and Libertus ordered another beer, and Noctis the food for Crowe and himself. Prompto wanted just some fries and Gladio took something mexican with steak, which had Ignis sighing. The waiter nodded and was on his way again.

“Hey, Nyx,” Noctis started, quickly taking another sip of his cocktail, feeling already a bit dizzy in his head, “Where’s Luna?”

Nyx shrugged with one shoulder, half smile on his lips. “She had to take a shift from another nurse, who got sick just today. The angel she is, she said yes of course and apologized. Next time she will be here with us.”

“A shame. But at least she takes her job seriously, not like some others,” Ignis said and gazed at Prompto, who looked like a deer caught in headlight.

“Wha-?! I am very serious, Iggy! Being a DJ _and_ photographer isn't easy.” Prompto pouted. Noctis snorted and shook his head.

“You are, much like me, a student and a hobby photographer at that. Sooner or later you have to decide, Prom,” Noctis said gently and smiled at his bestie. Prompto just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking very much like a small pouting child now.

“Not a hobby!” he just said defensively. Then their food arrived and Noctis and Crowe happily munched their nachos with the cheese, occasionally cursing about how hot the food was, while Gladio told them about his workday. Training some guys who never had been to a gym before. Gladio had needed to explain nearly every gym equipment, before the poor guys could start.

Noctis didn't really listen to him, his mind still elsewhere and Crowe gently nudged him to get his attention. He hadn't acknowledged that he had been spoken to, but clearly someone had asked him _something_. He had thought about Ardyn and how the man simply had chosen him as someone he could play with. For a while. Noctis couldn't wrap his head around the idea that the man could truly been interested in him - a simple art student.

“Earth to Noct,” Crowe whispered and grinned when blue eyes finally focused on her. “There he is. We asked you if you want to watch a movie on Thursday?”

“Ah, sadly not. It’s the course again. Twice a week. Monday and Thursday,” Noctis said and looked apologetically into the round, but Crowe just waved her hand dismissively.

“It's okay, Noct. We can watch the movie together on Friday? Then you can entertain us with more stories about the lesson and Ardyn.” She winked and Noctis shoved her lightly, trying to look angry, but his small smile destroyed this altogether.

Noctis nodded and chuckled. “Friday it is then.”  
  
And on Thursday Noctis would see _him_ again. He really didn't know if he should he be happy or not, but he couldn't ignore the small flutter in his stomach. He was crushing on Ardyn so hard and he groaned internally at that fact.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, next chapter! This time out of Ardyn's POV. I will switch between Noctis and Ardyn's POV chapterwise, but most of them will be out of Noct's view.
> 
> And for those who don't know what the Alex or [Alexanderplatz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexanderplatz) is. If something is unlcear please let me know it. Berlin is big and we have a way of shortening down some places. Because it is a nuisance to say Alexanderplatz every time one wants to meet there...
> 
> Big thanks again to Eowyn (eowynsmusings) for beta'ing the chapter. You are the best ♥

Ardyn woke up way before his alarm was going to go off and rolled onto his side, groaning. He shouldn't be awake, not before 8 am. He couldn't see if the sun was out or not, but probably not, though it would have been hidden behind clouds as rain drummed against the window and the terrace doors. Sighing he rolled onto his other side again, cursing lightly because he had forgotten to take the pillows and cushions from the chairs outside into his flat. They were wet by now.

He tried his damnedest to fall asleep again, but to no avail. Ardyn rolled onto his back and blinked up at the ceiling too lazy and definitely too tired to move out of the bed yet. His thoughts trailed back to yesterday's evening and the painting/drawing lesson for the students.

The boy - Noctis - had been quite someone, blushing and simply staring at his body, his dick especially. Probably the boy's first time attending a nude art course in his life. The embarrassment had been a telling sign and Ardyn couldn't resist teasing Noctis to no end.

His reactions had been oh so beautiful. Ardyn wouldn't have joked and talked that much hadn't Noctis been there he realised. The man hated if people were uncomfortable around him. That would just damage the atmosphere and Ardyn's mood.

And if Ardyn's mood was down, that meant problems for _everyone else_.

He remembered shoots and fashion shows that hadn't been to his taste, where he had thrown fits and soured the good mood with his own, mostly at the start of his career, but he had needed the money badly to get away from his dysfunctional family. His father with the alcohol addiction since the death of his mother and his brother so infinitely jealous, that it wouldn't have surprised Ardyn had his brother tried to murder him.

He shook his head to dispel those dark thoughts and memories, not even knowing if his father was still alive. No one had contacted him for years and he actually didn't mind that at all.

He was free and finally could do what he always wanted to: writing. The modeling was fun and Ardyn would always remember it like that and he had been excellent at it, or he wouldn't have walked in New York, Mailand and other countries. Saving his money he had earned over the years was probably the best idea he had come up with.

That and _not_ leading an over luxurious life like some other models did. He didn't need flats all around the world or villas way too big for one person to live in and that you paid millions for. His two snuggly apartments were enough; the one in London and the one he currently lived in. He also didn't spend millions on clothes or other things he maybe would wear once and then never would touch again, collecting dust somewhere in his wardrobe. He loathed that kind of lifestyle, wasting money left and right, when one could do far better things with it. Ardyn sometimes had spend the money he received from a shooting or show to charity organizations, which _really needed_ the money and put it to good use.

The rain drummed louder and more frequent against the windows now and Ardyn was very glad that he didn't need to go outside into that shitty weather. He could make himself coffee and tea, staring at a blank document on his laptop, trying to overcome his writer’s block. Which had gone on for far too long.

Finally and hopefully being able to write another book, published under a different name. Ardyn didn't want to be linked to his written books, mainly because the tabloids and news would pick on his former model career. He already saw the headlines: _‘Former model Ardyn Izunia now writes books’,_ _‘From_ _fashion to paper: Can we hope_ _for_ _insider stories?’._ He didn't want the boost of his former job. His writing alone should be recognized.

That's why he used a nome de plume and his first small book with a finished plot was well received. People wanted a continuation, but the man didn’t intend to write one.

His phone vibrated and Ardyn grabbed it, blinking at the far too bright screen for a few seconds. 5 am. Why the heck was he awake?! Going back to sleep was impossible now and Ardyn groaned one last time, lifting himself up into a sitting position, scratching his neck as he yawned.

Was Noctis still sleeping? Sometimes the schedules of lessons could be cruel and one had to wake at ungodly hours - just to be on time for the lessons. Blinking he shook his head.

Where had that thought come from?

His phone still blinked with an unread message and he could guess very well who would be writing him a message at  at 5 in the morning. And his hunch was right: Ravus.

Ardyn didn't even bothered to read it, deleting the message almost immediately, before any text could pop up. He didn't need Ravus’ intrusive nature and habits of writing long texts of how sorry he was and that they should give each other another chance.

It would be the sixth by now and Ardyn had enough of drifting back to Ravus only to realise that he’d had good reasons to break up with the man in the first place. It always had been nostalgia that brought him back to the white haired model, whose career would continue for another few years, until he too needed to retire.

This business was toxic, only caring about looks and age and if someone would appeal to the masses.

Tossing his phone somewhere on his bed - the light blinking, indicating another message had come in - he crawled out of his bed and stretched. Something in his spine popped back into place and he groaned, quite satisfied so, and went to the bathroom to relieve himself and to shower.

The shower refreshed and really woke him up, although he swore he would never start a day that early again. Sometimes he could sleep until 10 am or longer, but he would be thrown off for the day. Sometimes he still landed a job, rather involuntarily, because companies and clients kept coming back to him, even after years of him being the face of some campaign or sometimes they were like _‘That_ _one ad, you remember? With the tiger?’_. But it brought him some more money and so he wouldn't complain - unless he had to work with Ravus again, which had happened twice in the last two years. And during those times he had fallen for the man again.

As a model one had a hard time dating someone who wasn't famous and probably not used to the fame and the paparazzis and everything else that came with it. The one good thing about Germany and Berlin was the _lack_ of them. There were of course some, but they were not as persistent and nasty as those in the US and the UK, camping hours upon hours near hotels or even waiting in the lobby sometimes, trying to look as normal as possible. Or almost trying to jump in the way of your car just to get a good photo. They were like vultures, picking on prey.

Ardyn sighed. He should concentrate on the things that lay in the future, that lay ahead of him. He rinsed his hair and had to close his eyes, unless he wanted to get shampoo into them. His thoughts strayed to his newest idea for a book, but he had no clue what the protagonist should look like, nor how he should begin.

He already had some plot points nailed down, but the beginning was missing - as was the ending, but that was another thing entirely. Blue eyes and a shy smile crept into his mind, dark hair. A blush that would only intensify if the person was teased some more.

A sigh escaped him and stepped out of the shower, drying himself off. Why did Noctis manage to creep back into his thoughts? He only had meet him once, but Ardyn couldn't deny that the boy had caught his attention. Partially because of the intense gaze out of those blue orbs, looking down at Ardyn's package.

And the way the boy had drawn him. Ardyn had to bring up the question, thinking about ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ - one of his favorite books, although it was short and didn’t have many pages. He had nearly asked Noctis if he could take on of the drawings with him, but he thought it a bit rude.

On top of that, it would have destroyed the bound sketchbook, ripping one page out. The young man should keep those as a memory.

Wrapping the towel around his waist, Ardyn walked through his bedroom into the kitchen to brew himself a coffee - a strong one. While the coffee was brewing, Ardyn looked out of the window. The sky was full of grey clouds and there was no end to the rain. It would probably rain all day. Maybe he really could write something and again Noctis’ appearance and behaviour came to his mind.

How concentrated his face had been, when he had been drawing Ardyn. The blue eyes gazing at him and the beautiful red shade his cheeks had been tinted if he was being teased enough. The young man was innocence for Ardyn, though Noctis probably was anything but that.

Maybe he could take Noctis and make him the prince of the story, trying to save and rebuild his kingdom. The book would solely be told from the prince's perspective. A dangerous move, so the reader was only limited to one point of view, one mindset, but Ardyn couldn't think of another person and their perspective on things. Perhaps an idea would pop up, while he wrote.

The kitchen smelled of coffee now and Ardyn inhaled deeply, looking forward to the first sip. His mood was better now, even though the weather was utter shit, and despite the facts that he had woken up way too early and that Ravus had messaged him - again. He made himself a small breakfast, consisting of some cut fruits in a bowl, with pouring yoghurt on top and a slice of toast with cheese. He took both to the living room and placed them on the side table, next to his laptop - a rather expensive one that had been gifted to him by a company.

Then he got back to the kitchen and poured a bit of milk into the now finished coffee and carefully sipped at it to not burn his tongue. Sighing contently he finally made himself comfortable on his couch, still wearing the towel around his waist, but this was his apartment and he could do whatever he wanted. Besides he sometimes _did_ walk around naked in his flat.

He booted up his laptop, opened Word and taking a deep breath he started to type. The first few sentences were the hardest to write and he sat at them for a long while, munching on his breakfast, brows furrowed in concentration. Occasionally one or another curse fell from his lips, but after the first paragraph - and another mental slap - writing went more smoothly and Ardyn even smiled.

 

* * *

 

The man lost track of time, after he had changed into some comfy pants and had brewed himself a cup of tea, eyes burning a bit thanks to the hours staring at the bright screen. The rain pattered away, clouds not lifting and still looming grey over Berlin.

Ardyn looked up for a moment, sighing. He didn't envy the people who now had to go outside or even had work to do outside. This wasn't the nice summer weather he knew from past summers, but reminded him of autumn - the bad side of the season. He rubbed his eyes and another sigh left his lips. Maybe he should take a break.

He stood up from the couch and stretched his arms above his head, watching the clouds move ever so slowly. He mourned his wet cushions and pillows on the terrace, but bringing them inside wouldn't make any difference now. He leaned against the window and gazed outside. He had written the first chapter, jotting down notes in another text document to not forget something that had come to his mind for the plot. Names, ideas, further fleshing out the characters - all that. He even had started the second chapter and was halfway through it.

Ardyn wondered if he should talk to Noctis about it, because he _was_ the reason Ardyn could write again, and rather smoothly so. He could get to know the young student better;  he had given up on denying that Noctis was kinda cute and attractive at such a young age. He thought him to be in his early twenties.

The age gap didn't really bother him and Ardyn sighed, as a well known warmth spread throughout his lower regions. Noctis had seen him in all his glory already, but Ardyn only could imagine how Noctis looked without his clothes.

What would have happened, if Noctis had agreed to him driving the student home?

Ardyn sighed and sat back down on his couch, trailing his hand over his stomach. He hadn't made the effort to put on a shirt. Closing his eyes, he let his imagination run wild.

He would have stopped Noctis, before the boy could leave his car, placing a hand on Noctis’ thigh. Slowly letting his hand wander up, hopefully eliciting a small gasp. Those blue eyes would gaze at him, pupils blown wide. Ardyn would lean over to him, whispering small praises into Noctis’ ear with a low voice.

Ardyn pushed down his pants, freeing his already half hard cock. He slowly stroked himself to full hardness, using the leaking precome to ease the motion. A low groan escaped him.

He set a steady rhythm, as he would have done with Noctis - Ardyn would first massage the young man’s length through his trousers, purring some more praises, before he would have freed the hard flesh from its confines. Oh, how Noctis would moan, or maybe he would try to stifle the noises that threatened to fall from his lips.

Ardyn tilted his head back, resting it on the headrest of his very comfy couch. He spread his legs more and melted into the couch, moaning. Desire coursed through his veins and he moaned again, louder this time. The man lost himself to his thoughts, his small little fantasy, bucking his hips. He flicked his wrist with the upward stroke, rubbing his thumb over the slit - just the way he loved it.

He picked up the pace, his breath loud and moans fell from his lips, sometimes even a small mewl. Ardyn knew what he liked and loved and what he could and would do to others to give and receive pleasure. What he would do to Noctis…

That thought alone nearly brought him to his climax and he slowed down again. Ardyn liked to draw out pleasuring himself. Sometimes it was a test of his patience and self-control, when he wanted to come fast, but knew if he drew it out, it would feel far better. His thoughts drifted back to Noctis and he chuckled breathlessly. The boy had caught his attention, very quickly so and now Ardyn had a _goal_ : seducing the student and along the way teaching him one thing or another in bed. A win-win-situation.

Ardyn groaned again, going even slower at it, opening his eyes and gazing at the ceiling. He felt the telltale gathering of warmth in his nether regions and Ardyn's eyes slid close again, a deep sigh leaving his lips. His cock twitched when his thoughts returned to Noctis and he wondered how the boy would he react if Ardyn were to simply suck him off in his car.

Another low moan escaped him and he came - harder than the last time he had jerked off. Ardyn relaxed into the couch, panting hard and trying to get his breathing under control. A small chuckle escaped him and he shook his head and closed his eyes.

He really didn't care that his cum was drying on his stomach and his hand, nor that he felt sticky and needed to shower again. Which he would do later anyway.

Noctis face came to his mind, a satisfied smile dancing on those lovely lips. Ardyn would do everything in his power to see that face, to see Noctis dark side. The raw lust and desire.

Now a plan was needed, desperately. Ardyn wanted Noctis. He wouldn't call it _craving_ , not just yet. He still could think of other things after all, and now he gained a rather nice fantasy to jerk off to, when he was hard again next time. His cock twitched with interest and Ardyn chuckled. A few more minutes, or maybe an hour, and he would be ready again.

“Oh, Noctis. What are you doing to poor old me?” Ardyn murmured, gaze unfocused. Oh, if the boy only _knew_! And that after just one day, just 90 minutes posing for the students; and Ardyn had of course focused on one of the students, giving him a bit more attention than really necessary.

But who could blame him? Noctis was _cute_ and attractive at the same time. He had a certain aura and Ardyn was drawn to it now. How could he win the boy over? Simply chatting to him afterwards like he had done on Monday? Maybe with less teasing so that Noctis wouldn't be baffled or speechless. After all he wanted the boy to talk to him and he would offer him a ride home again and this time he would insist on it.

Then maybe he really could do what he had imagined as he had jerked off. He sighed deep and rubbed his hand across his face. His manuscript was still waiting, the laptop going into standby mode, bubbles happily bouncing over the display. Ardyn looked down at the mess he had made of himself. Although the couch was so comfy he really should shower before he started writing again.

 

* * *

 

After he had done exactly that, and had brewed himself another fresh and hot tea, his thoughts were always straying back to Noctis as he sat back down in front of his laptop. Ardyn took a careful sip and enjoyed the smell of the tea, which now filled his living room. Aromatic. Fruity.

Noctis really turned into _his_ muse now. And he had so many ideas for his story, drifting away from the original plot and he even thought of putting the whole scenario into the Middle Ages with real knights instead of a more modern age. A low chuckle left Ardyn's lips and he didn't even miss his phone, lost somewhere in his bedsheets.

He still had the next three days to write, Thursday included, because the course only started in the evening and Ardyn hummed, stopping for a moment. He should plan what he would do and what he could take with him to make the whole lesson a bit more interesting. He had a fine cream coloured silk scarf somewhere only used once for a photo shoot covering some of the more intimate parts of his body.

When Ardyn looked back at his career, he really had done many photo shoots of this kind. Not leaving much to the imagination, but clothes or silks placed conveniently over his dick, his happy trail and some of his pubic hair visible. Teasing. Enticing. Sexy. Sometimes bordering on a soft porn shoot, but never showing his dick full view.

That sight was nowreserved exclusively for the students and their teacher. Another chuckle escaped him. Ardyn decided he would take the silk scarf with him, placing the soft fabric on his body to give them a small challenge.

He gazed at the clock on his laptop and raised a brow. Was it really already 6 pm? He quickly looked out of the window and the sky had darkened a bit now, rain still pouring down on the capital city and thunder rolled in the distance. The battery of his laptop was only on 20 percent and he really should stop writing, because he wouldn't charge the thing over night while a thunderstorm tormented the city. He also would turn off all the switches of the extension leads. He kinda was a bit paranoid in this manner, fearing that some cables would fry or overload the charging electronic device.

After saving his docs, he turned the laptop off, stretching his back. Maybe a few exercises would help his stiff body to relax again, sitting all day wasn't healthy after all. And Ardyn, being a vain person, tried to keep his body in shape as much as he could given his advancing age. A few push and sit ups and lifting some hand weights, but doing yoga exercises was too much for him today. Ardyn wasn't really in the mood and he couldn't let go of his thoughts like one should do while meditating and doing the poses.

His stomach growled and he stopped in his movements of doing the push ups, chuckling at himself and the fact that he’d forgotten to eat something all those hours he was writing his story. Ardyn scratched his neck and thought about it. Maybe a small salad with some fruits, nuts, tomatoes and chicken breast? His stomach growled again as if to agree with him.

It was done in less than 15 minutes; fixing himself the really tasty salad and watching the storm roar. The sky lit up for a mere millisecond and then the thunder rumbled, loud, growing even more in noise and then dying down. The storms never had been this aggressive, this frightening to watch. Ardyn leaned against the kitchen counter, calmly munching on his salad.

Blinding light for a second again, then the rumble came.

Ardyn cleaned the kitchen after he was finished, humming a little tune. It was from one of the more popular commercials, but the song was good and lifted his mood when he was down. He threw the used washcloth into the sink and made his way to his bedroom after checking that all the switches were off.

Something blinked in his sheets and Ardyn sighed warily; had he forgotten his phone entirely. Perhaps twenty more messages from Ravus and a few missed calls? Ardyn really should change the number, but then it was a nuisance to tell everyone that he had a new one - especially those people who didn't use messenger apps or the companies and clients. And that was something he wanted to prevent, calling or writing E-Mails.

Ardyn flopped down on his bed searching for his phone with one hand while he pushed his trousers off again with the other. A small sigh left his lips as the fabric slid off his skin. Deciding to sleep nude had been a good choice and even if some people might claim that it was nasty and wrong, but Ardyn didn't care and he had less clothing or fabric in the way.

And Ardyn was right: Ravus. 5 unread messages. The man sure had texted him more frequently in the past weeks and knowing Ravus it meant something was amiss in his life or career. Maybe a small low? But Ardyn shook his head, reading just the last one.

_‘When are coming back to London? We could meet and talk again a bit. Only casual…’_

Ardyn snorted at the _casual_ and shook his head again. Nothing with Ravus was casual and the man wanted attention from Ardyn again, but he wouldn't give it to him more than really necessary.

_‘I have to disappoint you, Ravus. Not for the next few months or the next half year. I am busy right now.’_

He sent the message and turned off the display, placing the phone on the nightstand, lazily trailing his fingers over his stomach and chest. Blood rushed south again and a certain student came to the forefront of his mind. Ardyn chuckled and smirked, stroking himself to full hardness and he moaned loudly.

Well, why not enjoy this before going to sleep? Dreaming of Noctis would be pleasant - that much Ardyn knew.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That chapter turned into a monster! 7656 was the word count in the end. My fingers slipped and the smut happened, although Noctis little stunt at the end wasn't planned, but oh well...
> 
> Thanks at those who take their time to comment this fic. ♥ And those who left kudos. It is motivating and keeps me going too!
> 
> Big fat hug to Eowyn (eowynsmusings) for beta'ing ♥

The past days had been strange in a way. Noctis didn't  know  if it was giddiness keeping him on edge or his own racing heart when he thought about Ardyn, but one thing was clear: he was nervous.

Absolutely nervous. And even Crowe had asked him if everything was alright, a certain spark glinting in her eyes. He really didn't want to ask what she thought. He could guess already.

He had also made the mistake of googling pictures of Ardyn, now a few years later better at discovering pictures he hadn't seen before - most of them showed the man naked, just clothes or other things covering his manhood. Noctis had bit his lips, growing hard at the sight and groaned. Yep, his crush on the man was back, full force. 

Then he stumbled upon a website for blogs. There were all kind of different blogs and they tagged their posts. Prompto had one such blog, always babbling about his follower count and that sometimes he discovered weird stuff or haters sent him messages. But Noctis just browsed through Ardyn's tag.

The man had a fucking hashtag! And most of the pictures were of him and his most sexy shoots, many of which he had already seen, some art and pictures of him and his ex Ravus thrown in. And so many textposts of how hot Ardyn was and his voice , and some people even had thoughts about how the man would act in the bedroom and they wrote  fanfiction  about him with Ravus or sometimes random people. He later discovered those characters were mostly self inserts. Far fetched wishes and desires. Unreachable.

Noctis had spent the past two nights scrolling through the feed, even downloading the app on his phone, saving away some pictures. He was a bit taken aback because on this website people ranted freely about with who Ardyn had spend some nights in a restaurant somewhere in New York, or when there was a rumour of him being with some VIP or some other bullshit. Either they were happy or outright angry, attacking the poor person. Never Ardyn, because they idolized him.

They always kept saying the man should get back together with Ravus, that they would always be the hottest couple and that they were a symbol. But they clearly didn't care about Ardyn as a person or they wouldn't be saying such things.

The man alone decided who he would want to spend the night with, consider having a relationship with or if he just wanted meet a friend in some random café. It was his right. Not theirs.

That was the sickening part of the website and those weirdos writing fucking long texts about Ardyn's private life, not really knowing where the man lived or knowing him as a person, his behaviour, his  _ real _ charming personality. Even  Wikipedia  stated only that he currently lived in Berlin. And Noctis was glad; glad that there weren't so many photos of him in Berlin. Here he had a bit of more privacy, but maybe Ardyn had learned how to blend into the masses. 

Noctis sighed and rolled around  on his small bed, cursing his nervousness that was keeping him awake. He could at least get some more hours of sleep, before his day started, but no , his body decided against it. He took his phone from the nightstand, squinting at the light and the display. 3 am. Sighing in defeat he swiped his thumb over the screen to unlock his phone, finger hovering over the  Tumblr  app. Should he search for more jerk off material? Or would the pictures on his phone be enough?

He clicked on his gallery, searching for his now favorite picture of the man from an unknown shoot, maybe just to have more photos for his portfolio. The background was dark, maybe just a black wall, one of the lights coming from behind him and the other from the left side, but almost frontal, casting some interesting shadows. Ardyn sat on a really intricate chair, red fabric covering the back and armrests.  His  legs were spread wide and he wore nothing, but he covered his groin with a fedora. The happy trail disappearing under the hat, promising and teasing and leaving the viewer guessing. 

But Noctis knew. He knew how Ardyn was built, how well endowed he was. 

Ardyn smirked into the camera, amber eyes glinting with mirth and his hair framed his face so beautifully. 

Noctis’ cock stirred to life and he moaned, closing his eyes. He gripped his dick a bit too hard and stroked slow, rubbing his thumb at the base of the tip, where he was the most sensitive. Precome dribbled over his fingers and a throaty moan left his lips. He almost gasped Ardyn's name.

He was no better than those strangers with their blogs and opinions on how Ardyn had to lead his life according to their wishes. But he pushed those thoughts away, imagining Ardyn would stroke him, teasing him and kissing the life out of him.

It was a short affair, as he muffled his  moans by  clasping his free hand over his mouth. He came hard, painting his stomach with white stripes of cum and even his chest a bit. Now he was wide awake, coming down from his rather sudden climax, gasping for air. Noctis crush just intensified and he didn't know how he would survive this evening without making a fool of himself. Hopefully he wouldn't grow a boner during the lesson. His blushing during  the first lesson had been quite enough , and Noctis knew that Ardyn was well aware of the fact that he really liked the man's looks.

Well, who wouldn't? The man was sex on legs and he knew it very well.

Noctis sighed and closed his eyes, dragging one hand down his face. His heart still pounded hard in his chest and he felt sticky now, but Noctis was too lazy to crawl out of his bed and shower. His thoughts drifted back to Ardyn and he wondered what the man was doing for a living now for a living. Sure, he had to have money, but wouldn't life be boring without something to do? Maybe he could ask Ardyn today, just to make some small talk - which he usually was terrible at with strangers. Noctis always felt awkward and had put his foot in his mouth more than once.

It was a miracle he had friends after all, but they all were awkward in some manner. Just like he had met Crowe, basically rehearsing one of the most cliché movie scenes ever: running into each other and one of them dropped the books - or what they were holding in their arms at that moment. It had been Noctis who had dropped his things, cursing himself and apologizing to the woman more than once and Crowe just chuckled, commenting that maybe they should talk more. She had even mentioned how it reminded her of movie scenes. 

That had been one and a half  years  ago and he never regretted taking that leap of faith and asking her to meet at the Alex just to hang out and watch the many tourists and people. She somehow knew that Noctis wasn't that interested in woman and had teased him with suggestions who of the  passersby  was cute or hot or  _ totally his type _ . He had tagged along with the game, which they played still sometimes, including the others too who just groaned.

Noctis chuckled and smiled, a yawn escaping him and he wanted to roll on his stomach to maybe get some more sleep after all, but he didn't want to soil his sheets. With a long sigh he heaved himself out of the bed and slowly made his way to his tiny bathroom with a shower, no bathtub - he would have paid a bit more for the flat had he wanted one and actually he liked showering more than bathing. 

The warm water ran down his body and Noctis sighed contentedly, humming low and taking the shampoo with the apple scent. His mind always went blank when he showered and Noctis sort of meditated there, letting go of his current worries and anxieties. It was calming and Noctis back relaxed on top of that as well since as the scar on his back hurt a bit at times sometimes when the weather changed drastically or he sat hunched over his sketchbooks for far too long. Or both, which was the worst combination.

Sometimes he went for massages to ease the pain, but afterwards his whole back and neck tended to hurt, both because of the massage maybe, and the daily stresses in his life and other bullshit like that. Or so at least the people kept telling him, but his life as a student was easy, despite the exams and weeks of learning and being buried in textbooks, theory and such things. Even his little job to earn some extra money wasn't difficult. He worked some shifts at Starbucks and even wrote the names of the people who ordered something correctly and they had been grateful. Some of his co-workers wrote the names wrong on purpose to  rile people up and the company was infamous for this, which clearly was something that needed to be adhered to. There was even a theory that this was some kind of marketing strategy. Some customers even chuckled at the names, but those were a rare occurrence. Noctis loved his work and he could call in when he had the time or motivation, despite set shifts. A little bit of extra money  would  never hurt.

Noctis sighed and then stepped out of the shower to dry himself, humming at the idea that he could maybe work tomorrow after university was over. Fridays were is short days. Nodding to himself he decided he would do it. A yawn escaped him again and there were even tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. 

He was tired again and hopefully he could catch up on some sleep.

 

* * *

  
He yawned loudly, as he walked up the stairs to their room, feeling not one bit awake. It hadn't been  this bad at the start of his day, but as the hours passed the lack of sleep showed more and more until he couldn't concentrate on his last lesson - which had been just dry and boring theory about one era of art he already knew inside out and had recited a few things.

Noctis hadn't fallen asleep again and had just tossed and turned in his bed, his mind not calming down one bit. Admittedly, he had dozed off, but only for a few minutes or even seconds , and Noctis glanced at the clock and cursed when only two minutes had passed. In the end he got up at 6 am, when the sun was nearly out. There had been some clouds and Noctis hadn't worried much about it.

But now he regretted it. Not two hours ago it had started to rain like hell, the clouds heavy and dark , and he had watched the rain patter down on the campus and the people walking down the road with their umbrellas. Noctis had forgotten his and a small curse fell from his lips. It didn't look like the rain would stop for next few hours and Noctis would be drenched if he walked to the train station and being sick was one of the things he hated the most. Unable to.really do anything, not even drawing , and sleeping away his days. He always felt useless in these moments, alone in his apartment and then he wished he had someone by his side to comfort him.

“Ah, good evening , ” a deep voice said and brought Noctis out of his reverie. It was Ardyn, standing in front of him, already clad in the same fluffy bathrobe again. Noctis assumed it was Ardyn's own. The student just blinked dumbfoundedly at Ardyn, not being able to utter a word and the man just chuckled lowly.

“A bit starstruck, Noctis? Are you still with me, dear?” Ardyn drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm and mockery. Noctis snapped out of his daze, blushing a bright red. Way to go not making an idiot out of himself. Noctis wanted to slap himself.

“Just a bit tired and I hadn't expected you...already here…” Noctis said lamely and sighed, gaze flitting over Ardyn and down the hallway. His cheeks still burned and he coughed, gaze now honing in on the long cream coloured silk cloth and the young man raised an eyebrow.

“Now, it would be entirely dull for you drawing me stark naked again, wouldn't it? Why not make it a bit of a challenge with some fine silk?” Ardyn purred, gaze burning into Noctis, who looked from his face to the silk and back again, unsure if Ardyn really was flirting with him or if that was his normal character. The first option was...too far fetched and Noctis didn't want to get his hopes up just to be disappointed later on. “Surely  _ you _ know this one.”

“Uhm…” Was Ardyn testing him? Whether or not he was one of those weirdos online, possibly jerking off to his pictures? Well, he had done that, but there was no need to enlighten Ardyn regarding this little secret of his. Or maybe the man just wanted to know if Noctis knew the photos of that particular shoot, because that had been maybe five or six years ago - did Noctis know of Ardyn then? “Yeah, I know that silk scarf ,” he eventually said.

He dearly hoped his cheeks weren’t reddening anymore, but now his ears burned and where the hell  were  the other students?! 

Ardyn's expression turned into a very pleased one and he chuckled again. “One of my favourite shoots, well, actually I liked all the ones that were of this nature.” Ardyn said and smiled down at Noctis. He was now leaning  against the wall so very casually, arms folded in front of his chest. Noctis couldn't tear his gaze away and he filed every small detail away in his mind.

“So… You have no problem with nudity…” Noctis mumbled and he could have slapped himself ten times over for his stupidity - hard. Ardyn now laughed, his shoulders shaking slightly and the man shook his head in amusement.

“I wouldn't do this here, if I was not comfortable with nudity or my own body...or people watching  me,” he whispered, amusement still in his voice. Noctis avoided Ardyn's gaze and slowly made his way to the door to enter the room. 

Three students already were there, talking in hushed voices and glanced at Noctis with curious gazes. One of the girls even raised a brow and her expression turned a bit sour. Ardyn had followed Noctis and pressed his hand against Noctis back.

“Stop daydreaming, dear ,” he murmured, leaning down a bit and then gently shoved Noctis to his seat and the student walked the last bit and flopped down on the chair. So, no stools this time. And he only now noticed the wing chair with the intricate pattern and Noctis blinked. Their professor entered the room and clicked her tongue, looking a bit disappointed.

“It would seem that two of us won't be joining us today and I am already five minutes late. Had to discuss something with the professor  who  oversees the props for the plays…” She gestured to the wing chair and Noctis smirked a bit. He knew stories from Crowe and that woman wasn't one to joke around with.

“No worries. And I will ask you all -  what  is this and more important do you know it?” Ardyn said and smiled devilishly, lifting the silk scarf up a bit. Noctis wanted to groan in desperation, because lying wasn't an option and surely Ardyn would remark on it.

Why did Ardyn have to ask?  _ Why? _

Everyone shook their head except Noctis, who halfheartedly lifted his hand, ears and cheeks burning as Ardyn regarded him with a very smug grin.

“Well, at least one of you  _ knows _ what that means. Silk somehow is...let's say a trademark in my photos , ” Ardyn said and without further ado he shrugged out of the robe and Noctis was hyper aware how slow the man did it. Or was his tired mind playing tricks on him? 

Noctis took deep breaths and gazed down at his sketchbook, his blush deepening again and he feared it would stay for the whole evening. Not good. 

He was screwed. Utterly. But he slowly looked up again and Ardyn just smiled, making himself comfortable in the chair and placing the silk around his neck. It fell over the side of his body and hid his dick. Noctis cursed internally, hoping he wouldn't grow a boner right then and there.

He should concentrate on his task - drawing, but that required looking at Ardyn. Noctis breathed a bit before he lifted his gaze and those amber eyes watched him. But then Ardyn turned his head to the side  into the headrest and closed them, smirk still in place. The man really knew how to display himself in a way that was erotic, but not  _ too _ much. 

Soon enough Noctis blush faded from his cheeks and ears and the typical calmness surrounded him as his pencil flitted over the paper. It was tricky to draw the silk just right and Noctis furrowed his brow more than once. He stopped for a few moments, his gaze flicking back and forth from his drawing to Ardyn.

“Ah, once there was a shoot where one or two of the many assistants was too flustered to do his job properly. They...were some trainees and I think I intimidated them and the worst for them: their coach teased them , ” Ardyn said out of the blue and smirked. “Of course I had to behave a bit over the top then. I joined in with the teasing and was in general too overbearing.” 

Noctis just raised a brow, not really understanding what Ardyn's point was, but a small smile graced his lips. He could imagine Ardyn doing this, being overbearing and just  _ too _ much for people who were not used to this behaviour. 

“And some girls  _ drooled _ , but that happened many times.” Ardyn added after a pause and chuckled , and Noctis felt Ardyn’s gaze on himself. A shiver ran down his spine.

Not good. Not  _ fucking _ good.

Noctis had to look up again and Ardyn gazed at him, nearly undressing the student with his amber eyes. Ardyn's smile widened and his gaze dropped down to Noctis crotch and his smile turned into a shit-eating grin as if he knew what effect he had on Noctis. The student squirmed uncomfortably in his chair , trying to ignore the heated stare. 

No one said a word, not even Mrs. Fuchs who surely had more time watching her students do their thing and Noctis could have groaned out loud, but only a loud sigh escaped him as he drew again, concentrating on the silk and… he had to highlight Ardyn's crotch in the drawing…

Did the man just spread his legs a bit more and  slouch  down in the chair?! For  fuck’s  sake , they weren't alone. Noctis tried to look unaffected as if he hadn't noticed this small detail again, but his concentration slowly dwindled.

He pressed his hand with the pencil against the paper and a curse fell from his lips, louder than he had thought because the former model chuckled low and the girl next to him glanced up, looking at him strangely.

Noctis quickly looked back down and tried to gather his scattered thoughts. He needed to calm down, dammit! On Monday he hadn't been this nervous, but maybe, Noctis mused, he hadn't truly realized what was going on and who was in front of him and…

He shook his head again to dispel those thoughts and he picked up his pencil again, drawing and trying to calm is frayed nerves. He needed to get back into the special zone where nothing could shake him and he could draw for hours upon hours. But nothing helped and he sighed as he didn’t want to disappoint his teacher. She always loved his pictures and he somehow knew that Ardyn wanted to see them too.

“Shit…”  he  said under his breath and closed his eyes. When was the last time he had been in such a state? He always got his shit together, but not today, not when he was faced with the sexiest man he had ever laid his eyes on. The chair creaked as Ardyn moved and the silk slipped down his body  _ just _ so and pooled around his hip. Now half of his dick was visible and Noctis flipped to a new page and scribbled fast, warmth rushed south and Noctis bit his lip.

The others were unfazed, but one or two glanced at a struggling Noctis, whose cheeks were again a light pink. Ardyn's gaze never strayed away from him, an amused smile dancing on his lips.

Noctis shook his head and glared at Ardyn now, but the man just chuckled, making himself a bit more comfortable or at least he acted as if he was.

His professor walked through the room again, glancing over the the students' shoulders, praising them or giving tips again. Hovering over Noctis , she eyed him and then his drawing. Noctis flipped a page back, showing her the other one and he looked up slowly. Her smile widened the tiniest bit and she patted him on the shoulder and said in a quiet voice , “Think of something vastly different while drawing him. That will distract you enough, I hope. It might be a bit tricky but once you get the hang of it , nothing can throw you off balance anymore. Trust me. I know.”

Noctis just blinked at her, unable to say anything because he was too shocked. Prompto once had said he was like an open book and wore his heart on his sleeve. He was way too easy to read and that was one thing he hated. But he tried  the  tip, thinking of tomorrow and going to the cinema with the others, watching some comedy or such thing. Mind numbing to forget the bad things in the world for only 90 minutes. Noctis hoped it was to his taste. His humour was not one many understood; too much sarcasm and at times really dark. 

At least Nyx joined in with his dry remarks and Noctis always snorted. 

Noctis could even gaze up again, taking Ardyn and his posture in, smile still in place and amber eyes watching him. No, Noctis wouldn't freak out that much anymore, though there was a shiver running down his spine. Not an uncomfortable one. The rain still drummed against the windows and Noctis dreaded going outside.

He nearly flinched as Mrs. Fuchs clapped her hands, while raising her voice , “Well, that was it for today. And good idea with the chair and silk, Ardyn ,” she said and the man just grinned and shrugged one shoulder.

“I wanted to make it a bit harder for your students. And sometimes such a piece of cloth can make the picture much more interesting and  the viewer might get frustrated.. ”  he said and his gaze flitted to Noctis, whose back straightened as he tried his hardest not to blush again. He did that  _ way too much _ today. The man stood up, wrapping the bathrobe around his body - thank god or Noctis really might have gotten a boner. It was a miracle that he wasn't half hard already.

“Can anyone give me the answer to that?” Ardyn asked and looked at each person in the room, his gaze lingering on Noctis expectantly as if the boy knew the answer. 

“We don't see…the whole package , ” Noctis mumbled and ducked his head a bit. No one had said anything and clearly Ardyn wanted an answer. And Noctis wanted to disappear, because the man smiled smugly at him, nodding.

“Right answer. People  _ are _ curious. People want to know basically everything and if a half naked person is displayed in front of them, they want to  _ know _ . What  _ do they look _ like beneath that blanket, that piece of cloth. Of course imagination is the.. _.most important  _ thing, but that can end in disappointment should the rest not met up with the fantasy , ” Ardyn told them and two of the students just looked confused at the model, not really understanding what the man was saying  to them.

Noctis suppressed a snort. He had his fair share of such disappointments, but Ardyn was no such one. The student had fantasized about Ardyn when he had been younger. Who didn’t? Who didn’t ask themself what the man’s dick looked like? 

“Before you leave again like your life depends on disappearing as quickly as possible, we would like to take a look at your drawings , ” Mrs. Fuchs said and smiled at their students. Noctis just wanted to leave and felt jumpy already. He would bolt out of the room if the chance was given to him. 

And it really was. Both, Ardyn and the teacher walked up to the student at the other end of the half circle and Noctis just dropped his sketchbook on his chair and slung his bag over his shoulder. He forgot to put his book away, mind to occupied with the possibility to escape Ardyn's gaze. 

“Noctis? Where do you think you are going?”

“Feelin a bit dizzy. I’m in need of some fresh air!”  he excused himself and was out of the room. 

“Noctis! You forgot your book!”  the professor called after him, but Noctis ignored her, nearly running down the hallway to get to the stairs and in a matter of minutes he stood at the entrance. Pushing one of the doors open , he lightly cursed as the rain hit him and he stepped back into the  building . The rain was even worse now. Noctis was amazed that he could only see the far end of the streets through a grey curtain and not even everything. Houses disappeared behind walls of rain.

Noctis would be drenched in seconds should he decide to walk to the busstation. The train station was out of the question: too far away. Again he cursed himself and he let the door fall shut, leaning against the wall and sliding down. He didn't know how many minutes had passed as the others walked down the hall, glancing at him curiously. Noctis noted that they all had umbrellas with them, but none of them walked into the same direction as Noctis. They bid him a quiet goodbye and as the door was open  once more he could hear the rain again. Noctis was embarrassed now about what he had done earlier. He had been such a coward and freaked out. What might Ardyn  be thinking of him now?

Noctis closed his eyes, the coldness of the floor slowly seeping into him. 

“Here you are, Noctis , ” a deep voice said and as Noctis slowly opened his eyes he found Ardyn standing over him, his sketchbook in his hand. “I thought you would miss this dearly.”

Noctis only stared at Ardyn, seeing him for the first time in casual clothing, not naked or in  bathrobe. Black form fitting jeans, a white button down shirt and a long dark gray coat with a floral patterned scarf. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and in the other hand  a black umbrella. Then the student shook himself out of his staring and slowly stood.

“Thank you… For bringing me my sketchbook , ” Noctis said, almost sounding like a machine. He sighed as he tugged his book away and pushed the door open. “Shit…”

“Now, my offer still stands, dear , ” Ardyn chimed from behind Noctis,  a  small smile on his lips. Noctis had no excuse this time to say no and he just nodded. His stomach turned the slightest.

He would be in a car with Ardyn. Small space, no escape. Noctis looked from the rain to Ardyn and back out again. He didn't want to be wet and sick. “I...okay. Drive me home then ,” he mumbled and tried to sound indifferent, almost bored. Ardyn just chuckled and opened his umbrella, stepping outside. Noctis followed and had to walk close to Ardyn to not get wet. The man was leading him to his car, pressing his hand again at the small of Noctis’ back.

“You weren’t really concentrating today and I wonder why , ” Ardyn said after a while and Noctis just shot him a glare. The man was definitely teasing him!

“You know exactly why , ” Noctis grumbled and Ardyn chuckled, his hand now wandering up and down lightly. Then he came to a halt and stopped Noctis, who blinked at the car, which looked old and was - on top of that - a bright violet colour, somehow matching Ardyn’s unique hair.

Ardyn pressed the car key and the lights blinked, indicating that the doors were open now. And Ardyn was a gentleman, opening the  passenger side door and holding the umbrella higher and over Noctis more so that the student wouldn’t get wet. Noctis slid into the seat pretty fast and Ardyn walked around, sliding into the driver's seat and closing the door after he had thrown the dripping umbrella onto the backseat. The dark leather seats were quite comfortable.

“You can leave your things on the backseat , ” Ardyn pointed out, putting his own bag there and Noctis quickly followed suit. “Would you be so kind and type in the address into the nav?” 

“Yeah…” Noctis said and shrugged, turning the device on and after a while of waiting he could type in his address. Ardyn checked everything and nodded to the seat belt. Noctis fastened it.

“And  _ maybe _ I should apologize for my behaviour today, but...I won’t. You are too cute when you are blushing , ” Ardyn said, his eyes on the road while he followed the route the system deemed the quickest to drive. Not many cars were on the road but the rain made it hard to drive at higher speed. Noctis blushed again at Ardyn’s words and coughed awkwardly. The man was definitely hitting on him - hard. Maybe it was all a game for Ardyn to pass his time until he found  _ another _ toy. A better one. 

“I am not cute ,” he  said eventually, almost pouting now. Ardyn threw him a side glance and patted his knee, his hand then trailing up his leg and Noctis blinked and tried to breathe normal. 

“Oh, you have  _ no _ idea, Noctis, how you are looking right now , ” Ardyn purred and chuckled as Noctis’ blush deepened again. Warmth pooled in his loins and he pressed his knees together. Not now!

“Still, I’m  **not** cute!” 

Ardyn just sighed and shook his head, lips curled up into a small smirk, as if he wanted to say:  _ keep telling that yourself, dear _ . His gaze strayed every now and then to Noctis, golden eyes sparkling with mirth and...something else Noct didn’t want to know.

Then silence stretched between them, the voice of the GPS guiding Ardyn through the streets. Ardyn just hummed low and Noctis glanced out of the window, not really seeing anything. His eyes followed the rain droplets running along the window. 

“What are doing now?” Noctis asked out of the blue, looking at Ardyn’s profile. Wrong move, because Noctis eyes strayed to his lips, noticing the nice kissable form, his nose with a small bump in the middle and his strong stubbled jaw. 

“Besides the little course? Ah, well…” Ardyn begun and the corner of his mouth lifted up into a sneaky smirk. “You  _ are _ one curious thing, dear.” 

And there was it again: the teasing. But Noctis just shrugged one shoulder. 

“C’mon, do tell me. I ask nicely , ” Noctis just mumbled and Ardyn glanced at him, taking in his form. Probably undressing him again with his eyes, because another shiver ran down his spine. 

“Please keep it a secret. I am an author now, writing books , ” Ardyn said and chuckled at Noct’s surprised expression. “Is it really such a surprise? I hate being lazy and doing nothing. And surely you didn't think I would sit idly at home and enjoy my retirement and live off my earned money, wasting away my days?” Noctis shook his head.

“Good, because I still have a few jobs sometimes or I agree on a TFP-Shoot.”

“TFP?”

“Time for Prints or Time for Pictures. A photographer and a model work together without earning money - that is the agreement to do it for free. Both, the photographer and the model gain experience through it and have something to put into their portfolio. Actually the  reimbursement are the photos for the model, replacing the money in this case. For me now it is relaxing and I can even give some beginners tips on how to talk with the model , ” Ardyn told him and chuckled lightly. “Some are really clumsy, still in an  apprenticeship and need every help they can get.”

Noctis nodded. “That and writing books? Why did I never  hear of that one before.”

“That, my dear, is because I don’t use my real name as the author’s name. People should like my books because of the writing itself and not the pretty name printed on it. I do ask you again:  please , keep it that way, would you?” Ardyn looked at him and then proceeded to park his car. The GPS announced that they arrived at their final destination.

Noctis just blinked, not having noticed that Ardyn drove him through his street. It still rained like hell and Noctis smiled thankfully at Ardyn. “I won’t say a word, if it is that important to you ,” he promised and made to grab the handle of the door to open it, but a hand gently trailing over his thigh stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Thank you, Noctis , ” Ardyn said and… Had his voice dropped? Noctis’ skin tingled pleasantly and he took a deep breath, slowly turning his head to look at Ardyn. The man smiled at him and his eyes flitted for the briefest moment to Noctis’ lips. The student felt his cheeks burn again and warmth rushed south. 

The gaze of those amber eyes darkened the slightest. Ardyn’s hand trailed higher and higher with each stroke and the man now leaned slightly to Noctis.

“Maybe I should show you just how grateful I am, hm?” Ardyn murmured, now nuzzling Noctis’ neck, inhaling deeply.

A sigh escaped Noct and he turned his head, offering his neck to Ardyn. He didn’t ask questions. Not  _ why,  _ not  _ how _ . It didn’t really matter, because it was obvious now for Noctis: the man had been hitting on him, teasing on purpose and now? Now Ardyn’s fingers ghosted over his clothed erection. He began to massage the student through his trousers and Noctis gasped, before a small moan fell from his lips.

“Oh, is that for me?” Ardyn purred into his ear. “What a nice little, well...not so little, parting gift.” Ardyn kept massaging him for the next few minutes, nibbling at Noctis’ neck. 

Noctis ’ mind had gone blank the moment Ardyn had touched his length, now craving the sensation of his hand on his dick, skin on heated skin. Was this really happening? Had his fantasy just turned reality? He closed his eyes, hips thrusting up into the contact and Ardyn chuckled against his neck.

“So impatient, dear?”  he asked and Noctis whimpered as an answer. Ardyn opened the zipper of his trousers, pushing down his underwear and freeing his straining cock. Noctis moaned loudly, tilting his head back and to the side, breathing heavily through his mouth as Ardyn stroked his length, flicking his wrist at the right moment as if the man knew what Noctis liked the most.

“Shit…” Noctis breathed and sighed. Ardyn smiled into his neck, now gently sucking the skin and leaving a mark there. He kissed his neck, moving up until he could bite into Noctis’ earlobe. Noctis couldn’t think straight and he blinked his eyes open, staring out of the window. Ardyn’s thumb rubbed over his slit, smearing the precome and he picked up the pace. Noctis eyes slid close again and he thrust his hips into Ardyn’s hand, reveling in the touch of his hand and the warmth spreading through his body.

“Such a lovely sight , ” Ardyn murmured, licking the skin that slowly bruised. Noctis wanted more, so much more now. Soon he would be coming, already feeling the warmth building up and how his balls tightened. 

“Ardyn, I’m…”  he started, but Ardyn silenced him with a kiss on his lips, nipping lightly and then deepening the kiss as he tilted his head ever so slightly. Noctis moaned into it.

“It’s alright, my dear. But we don’t want you to make a mess of yourself, right?”  he whispered and slowed down the movement of his hand, then to Noctis utter surprise Ardyn leaned down. His tongue flicked over the slit and he sucked in the head, humming low. Noctis pressed his one hand over his mouth, while he tangled the other in Ardyn’s locks and he tugged at them. Ardyn growled around his cock, taking him deeper into his mouth.

That wet heat! Noctis had a hard time keeping his hips still. He wanted to thrust up so badly. Ardyn was really good at this and Noctis forced his eyes open to gaze down at the former model. A low moan escaped him and he never wanted to forget this. 

“Ardyn…”  he panted and tugged at the man’s hair, but Ardyn just hummed, doubling his efforts to make Noctis come undone. And the student moaned once more, closing his eyes again as his climax crashed down on him and he came hard. Hips thrusting up as Ardyn swallowed almost greedily.

Noctis needed a few minutes to calm his breathing and properly think again. Ardyn sucked him clean and leaned up again, very much looking like a cat that got the cream. He even licked his lips and then grinned. His fingers gently brushed Noctis bangs out of his face and the student managed a small smile.

Then a second kiss was pressed onto his lips oh so gently while Ardyn tugged him back in and adjusted his pants. He could taste himself on Ardyn’s tongue and shivers ran down his spine. 

“Can you give me your phone, Noctis?” Ardyn asked in a low voice and Noctis needed a minute to comprehend the question. 

“Why?”  he asked, even if it was quite clear what Ardyn wanted to do, but Noctis needed reassurance. 

“To give you my number? Oh, just imagine what that means. Me sending you some… rather  _ nice _ messages during your lessons. And we could talk whenever we want and have the time.” Ardyn smirked and waited for Noctis to hand him his phone. Noctis patted his trouser pockets and then fumbled for the phone, his heart beating faster again as he handed the electronic device over after he had unlocked it.

Ardyn typed in his number, humming a small tune and he chuckled at the phone’s background picture. A picture of Noctis, Prompto, Gladio and Ignis - all of them making strange faces. He handed it back to Noctis, saying: “I hope you will change it some time soon.”  _ To me.  _ That he left unsaid, but Noctis understood very well what the man implied and rubbed his neck with his hand, blushing - again.

“You can take my umbrella. I don’t want you to get sick. Give the dear thing back to me on Monday, alright?” Ardyn said and Noctis snapped out of his daze, pocketing his phone and turning around to grab his bag and Ardyn’s umbrella. Fingers trailed up and down his back and Noctis sighed happily, although at a certain point he twisted away. He was ticklish there and Ardyn chuckled, purposely poking Noctis nearly in the middle of his back, stroking his fingers to one side and Noctis yelped, jumping up and nearly hitting his head on the ceiling of his car. 

“Please, stop!”  he said and quickly turn back, trying to glare at Ardyn, who just laughed. The man lifted his hands in surrender.

Noctis relaxed again and chuckled, feeling a bit awkward. His gaze wandered down Ardyn’s body and he noticed the bulge in his trousers. Well, it was kinda hard to miss and Noctis looked back up at Ardyn. “Are you alright? Shouldn’t I…”  he asked and gestured to Ardyn’s probably painful erection. 

To his surprise Ardyn shook his head, although he cupped himself through his trousers. A low groan vibrated through the man’s chest and Noctis’ hand stopped midair, hovering. 

“I’m fine, dear. Maybe you’d like to watch?  Your eyes were  _ glued _ to my dick that very first day , ” Ardyn said and his voice sounded rougher, deeper even. “Pray tell me…” Ardyn simply opened his trousers, freeing his leaking cock and stroking it slowly. Noctis noticed that the man didn’t wear any kind of underwear. “Does it fit your imagination?” 

Noctis couldn’t tear his gaze away, watching Ardyn jerk himself off. And Ardyn’s hard dick surpassed Noctis’ imagination. By far. The student licked his lips, his fingers digging into his backpack. He wanted to touch Ardyn so badly, stroke that beautiful huge cock of his. His own cock twitched in his trousers and a loud sigh escaped him.

“It is better…” Noctis eventually said and looked up into Ardyn’s face. Amber eyes darkened with desire, lids half closed and a small smirk on his lips.

“Hmm, good to know… and anyone could walk past my car and glance at us , ” Ardyn casually mentioned. Noctis blinked. He hadn’t thought about that and he blushed even more. So, there could have been people who had seen them? Seen Ardyn sucking him off, although through the rain it should have been not so clear.  The windows were blurred because of it.

Still, Noctis wanted the ground to open up and swallow him, never to be seen again. But Ardyn’s harsh breath brought him out of his thoughts and his hand was moving faster now, his thumb rubbing occasionally over the slit. “Oh,  _ Noct _ , you seem so...enthralled.” 

Something in Noctis’ brain short circuited and before he really realised it he was licking over the slit and Ardyn’s whole length a few times. Then  _ he  _ was the one sucking the other off, returning the favour. He could taste Ardyn on his tongue, pressing it against the length as he started to bob his head up and down. Ardyn’s breath hitched and the man cursed lightly. 

“What a talented mouth you have!” Ardyn moaned, fingers carding through his hair and Noctis hummed around his cock. His jaw would be sore and sadly he couldn’t take more in or he would choke and what would  _ that _ look like?

_ Young man choked while giving a blowjob… _

Noctis sucked hard, hollowing his cheeks and Ardyn seemed to lose his control as he thrust up once and then he was pumping his seed into Noctis’ mouth, the younger man his best to swallow it all. A bit of cum trickled out of the corner of his mouth and he slowly leaned up again. He whipped his mouth with the back of his hand and in a rather bold move , licked his hand clean.

Ardyn watched him and chuckled, leaning in to press another kiss to his lips. “Confidence suits you, Noctis.” 

“Thanks, I guess… I should be going now…” Noctis stammered and finally opened the door. Ardyn had tugged himself back in and brushed over his shirt. Noctis opened the umbrella and fumbled for his keys. “Uhm… Goodbye, Ardyn.”

“Have a good night, Noctis , ” Ardyn drawled and smirked at him, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Noctis closed the door and walked up to the front door and unlocked it. Glancing back he saw that Ardyn had started the motor and seemed to wait until Noctis was safely in the hallway. He waved and then rushed up the stairs.

 

* * *

For the last half hour or so he had stared at the screen of his phone, having opened a chat to write with Ardyn. And Noctis struggled with it - hard. After all, who could blame him? Ardyn had given him a heavenly good blowjob, kissing him three times and in the end had jerked off in front of him, before Noctis had snapped. The man had wanted to show Noctis just how much he desired the student.

Noctis still thought this was all just a dream he would wake up from any moment now. Too good to be true, but the mark on his neck was there and bruising already and he couldn’t really hide it. A bit would poke out from under his shirt and that could be a problem tomorrow. The others would want to know what had happened - especially Crowe and Prompto. Those two combined were walking hell on earth and they would annoy him until he would gladly tell them everything. He absentmindedly rubbed over the mark on his neck, smiling.

“ _ Hey, Noctis here. Just wanted to thank you again for the ride home and… It was nice. Good Night Ardyn…” _

After five minutes of thinking his message through he added a smiley and immediately slammed down his phone screen first on the nightstand. He didn’t want to see the tell tale blinking and what Ardyn might answer or he wouldn’t get any sleep. 

He thought about Ardyn and how soft his lips had been and the sensation of the man’s stubble rubbing over his skin. Soon sleep claimed him and he drifted off with a smile on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, new chapter and the tags will grow with the progress of the story
> 
> Thank you for all the lovely comments ♥ They give me life.
> 
> and thanks again at Eowyn(eowynmusings) for beta'ing

The next morning Noctis’ fingers shook as he grabbed his phone from the nightstand. Why was he so fucking nervous?! There was no real need to be. Nonetheless Noctis’ heart wanted to beat out of his chest as he looked at the screen with anxiety. What if Ardyn hadn't answered him, seeing it like some insignificant little game and maybe had given him a fake number? But why would he, after all Ardyn had insisted to give Noctis his number in the first place.

He turned the display on, pushing his doubts down for the moment and blinked at the screen. Not only one, but three messages from Ardyn and only now did he see the small sparkling heart next to Ardyn’s name. Noctis unlocked his screen to read the messages. 

_ “Finally I know your number, dear. I already wondered if you would write me after all…” _

_ “Not answering? Shy, aren’t we? Or perhaps you are sleeping. Well, then I wish you a good night. Sleep well, Noctis.” _

_ “:*” _

The last was a kiss emoji and Noctis stared at it, warmth spreading through him and he smiled at his phone like some lovesick fool. Shaking himself out of it ,  he glanced at the clock. Well, he should get up and dressed. 

First university, then work, then watching the movie with the others. And he already dreaded it. They wouldn’t let him live this one down, would they? He would have to prepare himself for the teasing and the innuendos. But he needed to answer Ardyn.

“ _ I was asleep, sorry. Hope u slept well...hope you have a good day.” _

He send the message and stretched his arms above his head. At least he wasn’t dead tired and could survive university without falling asleep or feeling like he might want to. His phone vibrated and he glanced at the screen.

_ “Waking up and seeing a lovely message from you does wonders to dear old me. I forgot to compliment you on the sketches - in private. I do love them and you have a certain… way of portraying me. I speak about your first sketches. Wouldn’t look into your book without permission.” _

Noctis blinked and chuckled, shaking his head at Ardyn’s shameless flirting attitude, sent him just a smiley with his tongue stuck out and  _ “You were a bit busy yesterday. And an old man like you can forget the one thing or another sometimes.” _

 

* * *

 

It was a rare occurrence that Noctis of all people stood in the hall of the cinema, waiting for his friends to show up. He always felt awkward, just standing around while other people bought their tickets and their drinks and food. The sideway glances were the worst and he always asked himself what other people thought of him. But he shook his head and reminded himself that they were just some strangers. Noctis shouldn’t worry so much, but still. He could have been recognized by a few people.

That had been one of the reasons he almost had cut his ties with his father, seeing him maybe once every other month for an obligatory visit. Having a father as the head of one of the biggest companies had  its  advantages, but also some negative side effects. He had accompanied Regis  for  a few events ; they were always public, and the media had been present every time. It had been a miracle that only a few photos of Noctis existed and he had only appeared in newspaper articles, maybe once in a broadcast. And it was never the frontpage, thank God or Noctis would have rioted.

He wasn’t made for public appearances, for that kind of glory and fame, for the bright blinding flashes of cameras and people shouting his name to get his attention. Ardyn had surely endured all this and sometimes Noctis had watched the one or other trashy news show about celebrities or self proclaimed ones just to see a brief interview with Ardyn, when he had walked for one of the big designers.

A tap on his shoulder made Noctis flinch hard and he turned around to Prompto opening his arms and waiting to do their usual bone crushing hugs, he even bend his knees a bit and bounced up and down. The blond raised a brow and Noctis stepped in, wrapping his arms around his best friend and then simply tried to crush Prompto, who did the same. They both groaned and then just swayed around, laughing like some idiots.

“You seemed pretty far away with your thoughts, Noct , ” Prompto said and leaned back, patting his best friend’s shoulder maybe a bit too hard. Noctis sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

“Nothing to talk about. Did the world somehow end and we haven’t noticed it or why are  _ we _ the first here?” Noctis asked and chuckled. Usually they were among the last to show up when they met. Always terribly late and setting the others on edge.

“I think I saw Nyx and Libertus entering a supermarket, getting beer and snacks. No need to pay for overpriced popcorn and cola, right? And Gladio and Ignis had been kinda busy, at least that’s what I read between the lines , ” Prompto said and shrugged. “Don’t wanna know what they are doing behind closed doors.”

“Wow, a miracle happened and I am here to witness it!” Crowe called and walked up to them, a small grin on her lips. She hugged them both tight. “The others not here yet? Have you bought the tickets, Noct?”

Noctis sighed and shook his head. He hadn’t really paid attention to what they would watch, but he knew it wouldn't be a thriller. Crowe clicked her teeth with her tongue.

“Wait here. I am buying them and you will give me the money afterwards.” She just said and waltzed up to the cashier.

Noctis phone vibrated and he fumbled for it, remembering that he hadn’t answered Ardyn yet.

_ “Away again? You sure let me wait…” _

He snorted and typed fast. 

_ “Have been working and now gonna watch a movie with my friends. Don’t ask which! Haven’t really listened…” _

_ “My, my… What shall I do with you, boy? Am I such a distraction? How flattering.” _

Noctis just shook his head and glanced at Prompto, who in turn watched him closely. Noctis’ hands started to sweat and he felt hot and cold at the same time. Shit. 

_ "Of course, my life revolves entirely around you. Not." _

“Who are you texting? I’ve have seen that look on your face, buddy , ” Prompto pointed out and wanted to sneak a glance at Noctis screen, but he hid his phone against his chest. Prompto’s eyes shifted to it and back to  Noctis’  face as a grin spread across his lips. “Oh, I haven’t asked how Thursday evening went. How was it? Tell us everything, right Crowe?”

Crowe raised a brow, handing them their tickets. “That’s 12  Euros  for each of you. C’mon, I am just a poor student like you as well.” Then she turned to Noctis, placing her arm on Prompto’s shoulder and eyeing him. “Right! Tell us!”

“No… I will wait until the others are here. No need to repeat myself , ” Noctis murmured and avoided answering. For now.

“That would be now. Hey, guys!” Crowe called and Nyx, Libertus, Gladio and Ignis cheered a bit. Well, Ignis just lifted his hand in greeting. Gladio had slung his arm around the man’s shoulder. “Noct has something to say.”

Now all eyes were on him and he took a small step back. He started to sweat, wanting to get away from them. Crowe just narrowed her eyes and stepped up to him. 

“Noct, is that a hickey?” She asked, lips curling up into a grin and she lifted the collar of his shirt. “Where did you get that, but more important from who?” 

“Ah, well…” Noctis started and swatted her hand away, hiding the mark again. “It is from Ardyn. He...uhm…” 

“What happened?” Crowe raised a brow, smug grin on her face. Nyx and the others exchanged glances and Gladio even chuckled.

“I couldn’t say no to the car ride. It rained like hell and I forgot my umbrella at home.” While Noctis told them this , his cheeks reddened. “And in the end he just…” Noctis couldn’t say it out loud and gestured to his crotch. His ears burned hot again.

“He...gave you a blowjob?” Libertus asked in a disbelieving voice, raising an eyebrow, but then the man chuckled. “And just like that?”

Noctis rolled his eyes and then explained how the evening went, what had happened in the car and what he had done. The others only watched Noctis with varying degrees of amusement and excitement for him.

“Wow, he really hit on you. I wouldn’t want to be at the course. Well, except yelling that the two of you should get a room and fuck each other’s brains out ,” Gladio said as Noctis glared at hi, then he added , “But I am proud of you, twig. Blowing your crush off.”

Noctis glared some more, his bloodrunning hot through his veins. He really wanted to punch Gladio, but that would just end with Noctis hurting his hand and Gladio laughing at him. His phone vibrated against his chest. 

Crowe wrapped her arm around Noctis and glanced at his phone. “Go on. I know you want to read that message.”

“Can you  _ please _ step away?” Noctis asked, but knew it was in vain. Crowe didn’t move an inch and Noctis narrowed his eyes. Sighing in defeat he unlocked his phone.

_ “Oh, you’ve hurt my feelings! Here I thought I was someone special to you!” _

Crowe snorted and raised a brow, but refrained from commenting on it. Thank God or Noctis might have punched her in the shoulder.

_ “Feelings? You mean your sarcasm and teasing? ;).” _

Noctis turned the display off and Crowe pouted now, disappointed that she wouldn’t see Ardyn’s reply. 

“The little sparkling heart is cute. Did you put it there?” she asked and snickered, avoiding Noctis’ punch by taking a step or two to the side, dancing away.

“No. Ardyn did.”

“Someone seems to like you a lot already , ” Nyx chimed in and Noctis looked at him skeptically.

“I dunno. I mean, maybe he likes me, but what if this is only some fling for him? Enjoy it for a few weeks and then…” Noctis asked and voiced his biggest fear for the first time. He waited for an answer, almost anxiously, unable to bear that thought. The mere possibility that whatever was between him and Ardyn was just some sort of entertainment for the man hurt Noctis. 

“Noct, listen. It doesn’t seem like that to me. What I have gathered from your telling is - the man probably likes you or he wouldn’t be so attentive to you. He talks the most to you, right?” Ignis asked and as Noctis nodded the man smiled faintly. “Focus on that, on him.”

“Ignis is right. And if that worries you still...Tell him. Speak with him about it.” Crowe grinned and the stopped them all. “Wait, the rest of you owes me 12  Euro  each, except Noctis and Prompto. My heart  bled  as I paid for the tickets!”

The others pulled out their wallets with some grumbling and Crowe stretched out her hand,  a  small grin on her lips as she waited for the money to be slapped  into  her hand, dutifully thanking each man and even tilting her head.

Noct’s phone vibrated once more and he peered down. The others were still occupied with paying the money back to Crowe, 2 Euro-coins clinking against each other and so Noctis pulled out his phone. 

_ “Ah, now you are the one teasing me! Dear, but you cheekily avoided my indirect question, distracting me with you smart little reply. Maybe I should stop for now and let you enjoy the movie.” _

Noctis grinned and typed a short reply: Thanks. As an afterthought he send a smiley with a wide grin too. Prompto poked his shoulder and the others already were past the guy checking the tickets and wishing the fun.   
  


 

* * *

 

His weekend consisted mostly of lounging around on his too small couch in his cramped living room or lazily laying in his bed, enjoying a long morning that lasted until midday. And he always had his phone close in case Ardyn messaged him. Always with a bit of sarcasm and a flirtatious tone.  

Noctis always bit back, thinking his remarks through and hoping that their conversations were as entertaining for Ardyn as they were for him. He even snapped pictures of his most recent sketches; practices of lips, noses, a strong jaw, his own hands. Quite a lot  of sketches Noctis noticed himself. He was drawing when he wasn’t gaming or dozing on the couch or bed. 

Ardyn praised him, commenting on how he looked forward to Monday, when Noctis’ attention was solely on him. Nothing would distract Noctis.

Noctis sat on his couch, curled up in a fluffy black blanket, watching some silly cartoon. Outside Berlin was drowning again. It was a perfect chilly Sunday to waste away his day on his couch, fluffy blanket, something hot to drink and watching TV. Noctis couldn’t complain. His gaze flicked now and then to his smartphone, fingers drumming against his thigh. Ardyn of course had already answered Noctis and he didn’t know what to reply. He really wanted to know what Ardyn did right now.

After another minute of thinking he simply picked up his phone. 

_ “So, what are you doing right now? Being lazy too? Or are you writing?” _

He didn't need to wait long for Ardyn’s answer to pop up and it made him laugh.

_ “I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if only one hides it.” _

Grinning he replied: “ _ Haha, really? Quoting Oscar Wilde now? No need to be so secretive with me, dear Ardyn. It will still be mysterious, but please tell me what you are doing! For not knowing will drive me surely insane! And we don’t want that, do we?” _

He was rather proud of himself and his answer. He had an inkling that Ardyn had perhaps read something written by the man, but that he outright quoted The Picture of Dorian Gray? That was something new and something exhilarating on top. 

_ “Oh no, we  _ **_surely_ ** _ don’t want your pretty little head to go insane. As for what I am doing: writing. Pretty well too. Sometimes I get into the flow and I can’t stop until my own body forces me to. Do you know that feeling?” _

Noctis rolled his eyes at his display and simply send the smiley doing the same thing. He knew that feeling very well, it was now engraved on his bones. 

_ “Yeah, ofc. Sometimes I fall asleep at my desk while drawing. Did I disturb you?” _

Noctis felt a wave of guilt rolling over him, staring with a slight frown at his phone. But Ardyn assured him he didn’t and that he needed a small break or the man would strain a muscle in his neck. Noctis chuckled.

In that manner the evening went on and at some point Noctis went to his bedroom, undressing himself. He just left his boxers on and flopped onto his bed and sighed. Although his bed was small, it was comfortable as fuck and Noctis always had problems moving out of bed and start a day.

Could sleeping be called a hobby too? 

Noctis rolled onto his back and scratched his stomach, humming low. He gazed at his phone and an idea popped up: Why not taking a selfie for Ardyn?

He took his phone and opened the camera app, angling his arm this and that way until he was satisfied and he took a few photos. Chin held a bit higher than he usually would do for a photo, lids half lowered and a small smile on his lips. For the next one he tilted his head to the side, smile splitting up into a bright grin.

Prompto had once shown him how to take a proper selfie and what he should and shouldn’t do, but the most important thing was: no double chin. But the small instructions had helped Noctis. Prompto was the king of selfies and that showed in his Instagram account with nearly 15.000 followers, which more day by day. It was something beyond Noctis and he couldn’t really understand it - nor his best  friend’s  obsession with it. Of course he had an account of his own, showcasing his sketches. He only had around 100 followers - due to his inactivity, but he didn’t really care. 100 people already liked his pictures and that was enough and he didn't feel that useless anymore.

Noctis looked at the photos and decided to send the one where he grinned brightly , his head tilted and a bit of his chest and stomach visible. He had some muscles and wasn’t a twig like Gladio loved to call him. He never would be as buff as him and he actually didn’t want to be. 

His stomach fluttered as he saw that Ardyn typed back a message and it seemed to be a longer text, because it took the man a while to answer.

_ “Ah, what do my sore eyes look upon? My, my, Noctis, you are indeed full of surprises and this one is a great and very much welcomed one. Although you do tease me, leaving only your best parts out of view. Oh Noct, you  _ **_are_ ** _ such a tease!” _

After that the kiss smiley followed. And then a picture of Ardyn. In a white shirt, not buttoned up and hanging open, revealing his well muscled body. It was something vastly different to see Ardyn like that, out of the boundaries of the course. The man smiled his trademark grin and looked rather mischievous into the camera, eyes glinting. 

This was much more intimate. This was only for Noctis and none other to see. For  _ him _ .

Noctis looked at the picture for a while, taking in how relaxed the man seemed and he tried to figure out in which room the man had taken that selfie. It almost looked like the bedroom, but Noctis wouldn’t ask, hoping that Ardyn would reveal it. He felt warm again, smiling at this phone like an idiot and the others would have teased him about the expression on his face had they seen him now. 

_ “Now, who is teasing again?  _ **_You_ ** _. You always want to win, right?” _

_ “You got me there, Noctis. But don’t you see the delight in teasing each other? I never would have thought you like it, but maybe such things are easier over the phone than in person.” _

_ “Well, sure it is a lot easier!” _

Noctis snorted and shook his head. Most of their conversation went like that: teasing back and forth, no room to take a break. Thinking about the next snarky remark. It was fun.

_ “Ah, so will you be the shy boy again tomorrow? Blushing so beautifully again.” _

_ “No! Definitely not!” _

_ “We’ll see. Can I call you, Noctis? Only if you are comfortable with it…” _

_ “Uh...yeah.” _

Not even a minute later his phone was ringing and Noctis took the call, grinning. Although he felt a bit nervous, his fingers tingling.

“That was really quick, Noctis. Good evening.”

Noctis chuckled and rubbed with his free hand his neck, although the other couldn’t see this gesture, and dropped his hand on his stomach.

“Had the phone at hand. So...Hi.” He felt awkward again, chuckling. All his wit and brave remarks had left him and now he really didn’t know what to say to Ardyn.

“No sarcasm?” Ardyn teased, probably smirking now. There was rustling at his end and Noctis furrowed his brow. “How comfortable a bed can be, right? The dark bedsheets are a nice contrast with your pale skin.”

“Like I said...It is far easier being sarcastic over messages.” Noctis coughed and scratched his stomach. “Anyways, what are you doing now, besides talking to me?”

“Don’t you know? Curiosity killed the cat…”

“But satisfaction brought it back. Yeah, yeah. Bet you still want to be mysterious, hm?” Noctis said and chuckled, grinning as he heard Ardyn’s deep laugh. The man sounded a bit rougher over the speaker of his phone. 

“Curious little  _ boy _ ,” Ardyn purred, his voice dropping even more and sending a shiver down Noctis back. “I made myself comfortable in my bed. Far too big for one person alone and I wanted to hear your voice.”

Noctis bit his lips, feeling his blood rushing to his dick and well, there was his boner. Again. He had jerked off this very morning, thinking about the very man he was now speaking to.

“Then why buy a big bed in the first place? And…” He said, trying to sound as normal as possible while his hand moved down and he closed his eyes.

“And…? Noctis, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, of course…” he breathed and suppressed a mewl, as he first cupped himself through his boxers and finally freed his hard and already leaking member. Ardyn chuckled low, but then the former model gasped himself, breathing harshly into his phone. 

“Are you touching yourself, Noctis?” Ardyn asked and Noctis nodded, but then breathed a yes. “Good. Take it slow. Take your time, dear.”

Noctis closed his eyes, letting Ardyn guide him, listening to his instructions and once in awhile a moan or mewl escaped his lips. Oh, how he wished Ardyn was here lying next to him and touching him all over his body. At some point he put Ardyn on speakers so that he didn’t need to hold his phone and could touch himself properly.

“Don’t pick up the pace, dear , ” Ardyn whispered, voice heavy and deep with desire. Then the older man moaned and Noctis bit his lips, thrusting into his hand now. Ardyn’s voice was hot and intoxicating, turning him on so much.

Noctis let out a loud sigh, sounding frustrated. “Mean… you are mean.”

“I have to disagree, Noct.” Another moan from the older male and Noctis cursed lightly. 

Noctis tilted his head back, pumping his cock faster now. Ardyn said something to him or perhaps nothing, maybe sweet praises but the blood rushing through his ears made it hard to understand.

“Fuck, Ardyn… I am coming…” He panted and turned his head to the side where his phone lay and pressed his cheek into the pillow. Crying Ardyn’s name he spilled into his hand and onto his stomach, hips jerking violently up. His cock twitched a few times. He needed a  moment or two coming down from his high and getting his breathing under control.

Noctis sighed and looked at his phone. A moan sounded, low and then the former model groaned Noctis’ name. The student would have loved to see Ardyn’s face right now. Amber eyes heavy with desire, his lips parted and pleasure written all over his face. Even Ardyn’s pants sounded delicious.

“Wow, never had this happen before…” Noctis said after Ardyn had calmed down somewhat and laughed quite breathlessly. “The phone sex I mean…”  he  clarified.

“A nice first time, then?” Ardyn asked, his breathing and his voice under control again. Then Ardyn chuckled and sighed, sounding quite content and happy.

“Uh, yeah… But now I need to shower again, thanks Ardyn.” He said, half mumbling through the pillow. Again Ardyn laughed. Noctis loved his laugh already.

“I need to do that too, you know? But I don’t mind.”

“Did you only call, so that we can jerk off together?” Noctis asked and came up into a sitting position, wiggling out of his boxers. He was curious what Ardyn would answer.

“I really wanted to hear your voice, dear. Like I said before...” A small pause, as if Ardyn contemplated saying more. “One thing led another and you do sound so  _ lovely _ when aroused and needy.”

“I…” What should he answer to  _ that _ ?! Ardyn was so honest with Noctis and at the same time wrapped such things in a charming compliment. Noctis only blushed and stammered some more.

“Speechless, now? Not used to hearing  _ my _ way of complimenting and flirting with you, hm?” 

Noctis blinked at his phone and shook his head. He needed to get it together now or the older male would tease him forever about this night. Maybe he was even worse than his friends. 

No, he definitely was worse than his friends already!

“Actually, yes. I am not used to that…” he admitted, now moving out of the bed and walking to the bathroom. “But… I like it.”

He could hear the smile in the voice of the former model as the man said , “Good. I wouldn't have stopped anyway. It is too much fun, so better get used to it, dear. I am off showering now, but if you want we can talk afterwards some more? Or do you need your precious sleep to function tomorrow properly?”

A hum left Noctis’ lips as he leaned against the sink, flinching a bit as his skin touched cold ceramic. “Well. If not we can write, right? Actually I wanted to go to bed when you decided to call me.”

“Up to you, Noctis.”

“Until Monday then. Good night , Ardyn.”

“Sleep tight, Noct , ” Ardyn murmured, using Noctis’ nickname again, rather unconsciously. Only his closest friends called him like that. It only occurred to him now that the older man had used this name and warmth spread through his chest. 

On the other end of the line reigned silence and he glanced at the display. His phone always went back to his home screen after calls, but then a short message popped up, followed by a picture of Ardyn.

Naked and wet.

The former model really wanted to see him dead, right? Noctis only swallowed and put his phone onto the countertop, but the picture had already burned itself into his mind. And how long had he been standing in his bathroom lost in his thoughts, that Ardyn already had finished showering? 

Ardyn dripping wet and smiling smugly into the camera, angling his phone so that his dick wasn’t visible, but his happy trail. His hair was down for once, although a few strands still curled up stubbornly. And the water droplets on his skin glistening in the light of the bathroom.

Noctis shook his head and stepped into the shower, turning the water on and inhaling deeply as the water ran down his body. He emptied his mind, only concentrating on the sensation of the water hitting his skin, cleaning him of sweat and dried cum. This time he grabbed the shampoo with a fresh clean scent - the typical shampoo for men with fancy names to label the scent.

Taking a shower was always refreshing for Noctis, although now he wanted to sleep , but he wasn’t that tired anymore. The picture flashed again before his eyes and he shook his head in amusement. His phone clattered on the countertop, the vibrations slowly moving it to the edge before it fell and landed on the small carpet. The light blinked and Noctis sighed. Maybe, maybe he should turn off the vibration or next time his phone would take serious damage and it didn’t matter if there was a phone case around it or not.

Then a thought came to his mind. He should make another selfie, just to pay Ardyn back, using the same method. Why not? 

He bend down to pick up his phone, dripping onto the tiles and the bathroom carpet. Smiling he held up his phone, one corner of his mouth lifting up. His hair was down for once, the water having washed the hair spray out of his strands. Noctis took the picture, tilting his head slightly. Then he  sent  it to Ardyn with the small angel emoji. Nothing more.

Noctis turned the vibration off and wondered just how many messages he would have missed come morning. He pointedly placed his phone screen first down on the nightstand, having a hard time ignoring the small white blinking light. He had dried himself off and flung himself onto his bed, not bothering to put some sleeping boxers on.

It was no miracle that Noctis really looked forward to Mondays now. 

“Thanks, you cheeky sarcastic arse.” Noctis murmured and chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks at [Eowyn (eowynsmusings)](http://archiveofourown.org/users/eowynsmusings) for beta'ing. You are amazing ♥
> 
> More worldbuilding in Ardyn's story. See where I am going with this?

The shrill sound of his alarm tore Ardyn out of his  _ very _ nice dream and he groaned low, blindly reaching for his phone and nearly tossing it on the floor. He stopped the alarm, slowly sitting up and rubbing his forehead. Through a small slit between the curtains he could see the sun. 

That would explain his headache, always when the weather changed so abruptly.

Sighing he looked at the screen, hoping that maybe Noctis had answered by now. The boy sending him a selfie as payback was...hot and Ardyn had been staring way too long at it, ultimately giving up on the notion of going to sleep at a normal time. He had reacted to the picture, his cock slowly growing hard and he had basically showered Noctis with compliments on how cute and hot he was at the same time. Cute, because the student’s hair was down for once and not styled up with a dose of hairspray and hot… Well, he had teased the same way Ardyn had done, not showing everything.

He  _ wanted _ Noctis. No, he  _ craved  _ being with the student now, perhaps waking him up in the most pleasurable ways possible. After all, Ardyn had gotten a taste of Noctis, had heard the moans and mewls and had seen how beautiful Noctis looked when he was turned on and aroused. He wanted to see Noctis asleep, see if he looked younger in this vulnerable state. 

Ardyn blinked and groaned, carding a hand through his hair. 

Not good. 

Still, he couldn’t stop himself reminiscing about the past weekend. Nearly constantly writing with Noctis, writing his book and generally not leaving his apartment. The rain on Sunday had been even a good excuse to not venture out. And Noctis, Noctis had been a delight. Every answer had been sarcastic and Ardyn had thought his smile or smirk would etch itself into his face. Then the cute blushes during the course and just how flustered the boy had been! 

Ardyn couldn’t resist and had teased him, provoked him with his more erotic attitude, not one bit caring about the other occupants in the room. His focus has been solely on Noctis.

Then he had forgotten his sketchbook and Ardyn had asked the professor if he could take it to give the precious little thing back to his owner. Walking down the stairs he had flipped through the pages, smiling at the many drawings from other people caught up in whatever they had been doing this moment. The sketch of the cliff made him stop for a short moment and he blinked at it. The cliffside, the crashing waves and the view on the ocean reminded him very much of the Seven Sisters, well eight now, but the name stayed the same.

Ardyn had pushed the thoughts down at that moment, but now, sitting in his bed too tired to really distract himself he let them creep back. Slow. The mere idea of taking Noctis to Great Britain, to show him his home country, all the beautiful landscapes. Showing him that it rained less than people commonly thought. 

Taking the student to the Seven Sisters.

It sent sparks through his body and Ardyn felt… excitement bubbling up in his chest. When had been the last time he had felt like that? Like a child looking forward to Christmas.

Ardyn shook his head, pushing the thoughts back. It was a silly notion. He didn’t even really know Noctis, not even his last name! 

But still he had sucked Noctis off, loving already the taste of him. Ardyn cursed again and unlocked his phone again, had the display turned of during his… daydreaming. 

Noctis had answered. Finally.

_ “Uhm… Thank you. Just...should I really keep my hair down? You sounded rather excited and… Yeah…” _

The boy was flustered. Again. Too cute.

Another message arrived and Ardyn barked a laugh.

_ “Well. Not styling my hair would save me a lot of time in the morning.” _

_“Good morning, Noctis. It is up_ _to you, if you want to style it or not. Both suits you, although I must say I prefer you with your hair down.”_

He only voiced his opinion, but he was curious now what Noctis would decide. He could wait for Noctis answer in the kitchen, while he made himself a strong coffee. The smell alone from a promising strong brew lifted his spirits and washed his tiredness away for good.

His phone buzzed on the counter and Ardyn smiled. 

_ “I’ll keep it down.” _

Chuckling Ardyn grabbed his coffee mug and blew the steam away. Something akin to a giddy feeling spread through him. That Noctis would keep his hair down just because he had complimented the boy! How  _ lovely _ was that?

Ardyn carefully sipped his drink, humming low in his throat and typing away a short answer.

_ “Such a good boy you are.” _

For the rest of the day he would be writing, until it was time to leave for the course. He already had written four chapters so far, going back to them and rewriting parts that didn’t really fit anymore or Ardyn had been dissatisfied to begin with. The journey of his little prince had a slow start and the poor thing didn’t know what awaited him. He tried to write him as human as possible.

Nothing was worse than a character without any flaws, being perfect at everything they did and never making any mistakes. He had read books with those sort of characters and had always wondered how the whole team around that writer agreed on this. How they were in some sense famous - and he was not. Maybe Ardyn’s ego was hurt.

The many ideas he had for stories always had been rejected by publishing companies. Ardyn had told himself he just hadn’t found the right company yet. Until he stumbled into the company he now had a contract with, he had lost hope that he would ever see his written words on paper. It had been one of his darker moments in his life.

Now thought, now he could write without worrying that his newest story would never be published. His boss already had exclaimed how excited she was after Ardyn had sent her the first pages of the first chapter. She wanted more to read, but Ardyn had gently refused and promised she would get the story when everything was finished. And when he was satisfied with every detail so that no loose ends or plotholes happened.

Sometimes they were rather practical, giving the certain missing content in another story when the author had come up with a good and reasonable explanation. But most of the time they were the opposite and Ardyn hated not having planned through everything. 

Ardyn hummed as his phone on the counter vibrated again, but he would look later at Noctis’ answer. First he needed to get some writing done, before his mood vanished. He also could enjoy the day on his terrace, maybe reading a bit of his stack of unfinished books would never dwindle. He should stop buying new ones every time he walked past a bookstore or shops with small book sections. His poor bookshelfs were overload and he really didn’t want to buy another one or he would buy just more and more.

Sighing he moved back into the living room and placed his mug on the table. He should shower now and put on some pants at least. A shower would relax him and he could ponder further on what could happen next in his book. 

The young prince on his way to marry a young fair lady, the purest being on earth. Three countries at war and basically the capital of the smallest country in the middle of the two more military advanced ones. Being crushed and under the control of the terrifying empire. His father murdered and the Council as well, unbeknown to the prince, who also had been proclaimed dead. The prince journeyed with his best friend and two other people, who joined him by accident. When the poor lad knew what happened he had attacked soldiers of the empire and the two sky pirates got dragged in because they had fled from other soldiers. In the end they all landed in a prison - sort of, more a pit of a ruined city. 

Ardyn turned his head up into the spray of the water, smiling. An idea build how the four of them could escape out of that dreadful prison, the boy swearing revenge on the empire. He always was so lost in his thoughts that his body moved on autopilot. He took a shampoo with mint scent, humming a small tune.

After finising his shower he walked into his bedroom and grabbed some loose fitting grey trousers he had thrown carelessly one evening onto his bed. He always wore those at home so no need to worry about wrinkles in the fabric. Nobody saw him.

Flopping down onto his couch he pulled the laptop into his lap, booting the dear thing up. Then he was immersed in this little fantasy world, writing away the fifth chapter that was the turning point, where the blue eyed prince lost his temper. He really needed to take some more notes on what he had thought through. Especially about the character traits of the sky pirates, fleshing them out more. The one witty and sarcastic, but with a calm mind. The woman of the duo would be more mysterious, knowing the way the world works and the old tales and legends, being connected with nature. Ardyn grinned a bit as he decided that the man would look the smallest bit like himself. Wild dark red hair, but to contrast them the man had green-blue eyes.

Of course he incorporated fantasy into his story. That part of his world had come almost naturally and no one exactly knew how the magic worked. It was a natural force to be reckoned with and tightly intertwined with the world itself.

Ardyn lost again the track of time, stretching his arms and back, sighing when something cracked in his back. He glanced away from the screen, his eyes burning and his vision a bit blurry now. He had reading glasses but he barely used them, not acknowledging that he needed them. He wasn’t  _ that _ old.

He stood and rubbed his neck. It was 2 pm now and the weather was still a perfect summer day. Maybe he _ really _ should grab one of the books from his stack and read. Inhaling fresh air and sunbathing. 

His phone buzzed for what felt like the hundredth time today and he fished it out of his trouser pockets, the weight of the phone dragging them down a bit. 

_ “It is a bit boring right now. Finished my tasks and I can do what I want for the next 20 minutes. What you have been up to, old man?” _

Ardyn chuckled and smiled at his phone, immediately typing back. It wouldn’t do that poor Noctis would bore himself and Ardyn had another brilliant idea. He opened the camera and switched to the front cam, angling his phone so that his body was up to his knees in the picture. He pushed his trousers down with his free hand, until the base of his cock was visible and he stroked his skin and his pubic hair there with his thumb, putting on a slightly lustful expression, eyes half lidded. 

He looked at the picture, pulling his trousers back into place. Noctis  _ would be _ drooling.

_ “A nice little present for you. And now I am taking a break and will read on the terrace a bit.” _

The next answer took a while to arrive and Ardyn was pleased that he threw the boy off. He could picture Noctis all flustered and how he tried to hide his phone from prying eyes, probably blushing a bright red again.

_ “You cannot send me something like this!” _

_ “I very much can and will, my dearest Noctis.” _

Then he took a picture from his terrace, leaving that uncommented and went to his stack of books on the table next to one of the bookshelves, picking the very first from the stack. A thriller he had started recently about a stalker, who even killed persons to leave messages for the officer he wanted to pursuit, wanted to be the center of his attention. Interesting enough some chapters delved into the mind of the stalker, showing twisted thoughts. Of course the person would be caught in the end, but it was rather vague if it was a man or a woman.

Ardyn set an alarm on his phone, knowing very well that he would again be lost to the world and ventured out on his terrace. The warm air was slightly suffocating and he wouldn’t be surprised if there would be a thunderstorm in the span of the day. But for now no clouds were visible and even the noise of the street was dimmed as if he was in a bubble. He flopped down onto the couch he had brought extra for the outside, the white cushions comfortable and soft.

He flipped to the point where he had stopped the last time, small smile one his lips as the writing sucked him into the world again. Ardyn loved well written books, where he could forget the world and its problems. A story so catching and moving that he would ponder even days after finishing the book why it ended like that or certain things had happened this way or that way, but the most important thing: why the author deliberately choose to write the book.

Ardyn simply read, cursing the sun and cloudless sky, because he was sweating. Of course he could open the parasol, but that meant moving from his really comfortable spot. And he was in his reading flow as well. He would have to endure the sun beating down on him, hoping for small breezes.

Soon enough the alarm went off and Ardyn was startled, flinching even the slightest and glaring at his phone with a death glare. With a heavy sigh he closed the book and turned the alarm off, stretching and sighing. Of course he had to stop at one of the best parts: stalker and their prey meeting for the first time and now Ardyn was sure the stalker was a woman. The current chapter had been from the view of the stalker again and he only could count on the reaction of the officer, but before he could get to that part the alarm had shrilled. Ardyn moved back into the living room, then to the bathroom to shower again, but before he did that he checked his phone for messages.

Noctis had written him, even sent a photo and Ardyn froze on the spot as the picture loaded. He hadn’t anticipated  _ that _ . Maybe a picture of a flustered Noct or something more innocent like the room he was in or something similar.  _ Not _ this.

_ “See, what you are doing to me.” _

And there was Noctis in a toilet stall, actually jerking off. Ardyn cursed lightly under his breath, because the boy would be the death of him. Noctis looked delicious in this picture and Ardyn wished now he was there with Noctis, helping him with his little problem. Ardyn groaned low and palmed his slowly hardening cock.

But he wondered how Noctis managed to take a photo in this state. Had he stopped just to take the photo? The need to come increasing with every passing second? Ardyn moaned louder, pushing his trousers down and stepping out of them. Better finish this in the shower, imagining Noctis’ sweet moans and gasps. He knew the sound by heart now.

Ardyn closed his eyes, another moan falling from his lips as he stroked himself pretty fast, hips even jerking in rhythm with his hand. He only hoped that he wouldn’t slip and break a bone now. That would be unfortunate. Noctis’ name rolled from his lips with ease and Ardyn smiled even a bit. It was a short affair and soon Ardyn came with a cry. He pressed his forehead against the dark tiles, sighing and watching his semen being drained away.

He felt like a teenager again. Young and full of hormones. He was so fucking horny for Noctis it wasn’t even funny anymore. It never had been like this with Ravus, never this easy and natural. He could get used to this.

But first he should hurry up or he would be late.

 

* * *

 

Ardyn never had felt uncomfortable when he was half naked or naked in front of people. His job had required this...numbness, this detachment. Embarrassment or awkwardness was the death of a model. And Ardyn was none of that and this attitude had landed him good jobs and a few contracts. He adjusted the fluffy belt of his bathrobe. 

He could have taken the silk like with him today, but that would have been a bit cold for him. Ardyn pulled and pushed on the robe until it sat on his body like he wanted. Smirking he looked over his bag and clothes neatly folded on the chair and then closed the door quietly. Ardyn didn’t fear that someone would steal his stuff and only a few people were at the university now.

Ardyn looked down the hallway and wondered when Noctis would show up. The other few students of the course scurried along the hallway, greeting Ardyn with a nod, a smile and soft voices. He gave them a curt nod and leaned against the wall, smiling faintly.

Then he was alone again and hummed in a low voice, lost in his thoughts. Should he offer Noctis a ride home again? They had written each other basically non stop and Ardyn smiled again. He looked up again as footsteps sounded and he wanted to say something as he recognized Noctis, but the student had different things in mind and launched himself at Ardyn, kissing the model with a bit too much force. Ardyn wrapped his arms around the student, balancing himself against so wall so they wouldn't fall to the ground. 

Noctis stood on his toes to reach Ardyn, hands sliding up his chest and around his neck, burying into his locks. Ardyn purred against those plush lips, dominating the kiss soon and turning it gentler and slower. He nipped at the bottom lip before he broke the kiss and looked at Noctis with an amused gaze, raising a brow in question.

And there was the blush again and Noctis coughed and averted his eyes, looking to the side. Ardyn touched his cheek and turned his head so the boy had to look him in the eyes. 

“When I saw you...I just snapped.” Noctis explained with a shrug of his shoulder and Ardyn chuckled low, claiming his lips in a long and deep kiss. Ardyn took his sweet time, pushing his tongue in and moaning low. Thank God, their moans were somewhat muffled. Noctis hands now found a way underneath his robe, sliding over his chest and nipples. Ardyn’s breath hitched and he leaned back, gently prying those hands away. With a smirk he kissed Noctis one last time and he wanted to say something witty, when someone cleared their throat.

Ardyn looked at Mrs. Fuchs and smiled. “Good evening. We will be shortly with you.” The professor then smirked and nodded.

When she walked past them into the room she just said: “Finally. One more day of this...awkward pining and I would have locked you up in this very room. Just don’t do that while we are drawing.”

Noctis hid his face in Ardyn’s chest and he just laughed, stroking with his fingers through the silken strands. Now it was easier carding his fingers through them without that much hairspray and gel. Ardyn smiled down at Noctis, who only reluctantly looked up at him. 

“Will you always greet me like that from now on? I very much like it, but I do wonder what happened to the shy boy today? Vanished thanks to your little stunt in the stall?” Ardyn said and grinned as Noctis cheeks turned pink. “There is the sweet blush again.”

“You can’t tease me today or throw me off.” Noctis said almost defiantly, half pouting and his oh so blue eyes burning with...something he hadn't really seen before. Determination. Ardyn chuckled, stroking the cheek of the student before he pushed him a bit away. 

“We’ll see. And we should get going, or do we want to let them wait more, hm?” 

Noctis gaze strayed to the room’s entrance and he sighed, but he walked in first. Ardyn adjusted his robe again, following Noctis suit. The wing chair still stood at the same place and Ardyn simply flopped down onto it. He wasn’t really in the mood to undress himself yet, letting the robe slip this and that way as he moved to sit in a comfortable position for the next half hour before he would change it. Ardyn sighed and closed his eyes, as he heard the tell tale scrapping of the graphite on paper and smiled. This whole course gave him a small ego boost, assured him that he still had it in him. The patience of being still and letting his attitude out. 

Sometimes when he agreed to a small shoot he had lost his patience and temper when that somewhat famous photography overstepped his line with a comment or was just too full of himself, not listening to Ardyn’s suggestions and trying to push only his ideas through. Those deaf and dumb people he hated the most and he had no problem showing them exactly that. They always would complain and in the end Ardyn would leave the studio or the place, fed up with basically everything. Of course his little tantrums had been the center of some news in these absolutely awful tv shows.

Ardyn sighed and opened his eyes, turning his head to watch Noctis - again. The student looked up in that moment, his face a cool mask and Ardyn’s brows furrowed the slightest. Had the boy gathered his courage and composure? Oh, Ardyn wanted to see him blushing again, but Noctis smiled faintly and looked back down. The man huffed a bit, not that loud that the others could hear him, and he let his gaze stray through the room.

The professor stood between two windows, leaning against the pillar, ankles crossed over each other and she smiled at Ardyn. She pushed her glasses up, which had slid down the bridge of her nose a bit. Her dark hair was in a messy bun again, as if she never really had the time to style her hair properly. She had a face of a model. Put some professional make up on her and she would be stunning. Ardyn smiled back at her. He always unconsciously looked at people in this way when he had meet them more than once. 

Maybe it was time to change his position on the chair, because his neck started to get stiff. A nice reminder that he wasn’t  _ that _ young anymore. The robe of course slid through the movement from his body, revealing more skin and he put his right ankle on his left knee. He looked very much like a chilling king there with his head held high, eyes never leaving Noctis’ form. The boy looked up again, his gaze straying to his dick again and Ardyn just grinned, balling up his hand to a fist and placing his cheek on it. Noctis’ cheeks tinted the slightest red and Ardyn counted that as a triumph.

But soon he had collected himself again and he quickly drew Ardyn, his hand moving fast and into the bone ingrained movements. It was fascinating to watch and Ardyn for the life of himself couldn’t figure out why. Was it because Noctis was so appealing to him? Because he started to like this boy too much?

Ardyn stayed in this pose for the good next fifteen minutes before he sighed and stood up. “I might need a small break. I need to move a bit.” Ardyn said and it was the first time he ever demanded a break since the course had started. The professor nodded and the students immediately relaxed in their chairs, slumping back. Ardyn stretched his arms and legs, groaning low in his throat and rolling his shoulders and he adjusted his robe and strolled over to Noctis, grabbing a spare chair and dragging it next to the student. “Can I look?” He asked in a low voice and Noctis smiled and held out the sketch for him.

“I am getting better at capturing you.” Noctis murmured and Ardyn was surprised to see a sketch of his profile, eyes closed and a lazy smile on his lips. Did he look like that at the start today? Ardyn tilted his head and flipped through the other ones. They only were detail sketches of his body; his hand, his jawline and neck and only the last one was a full body sketch and Ardyn chuckled. 

“Good to see.” Ardyn said and handed the sketches back, their fingers brushing accidentally. He wanted to touch Noctis, brush his fingers over the cheek of the student, kiss that pale neck and marking him again. The bruise on his neck was already fading and that simply wouldn’t do. Ardyn blinked and looked Noctis in the face again, who smiled shyly at him again. Then the man stood abruptly, the legs of the chair scratching terribly loud over the floor and he apologized in a quiet voice. “If your professor has nothing against this I would propose a small change in this routine. How about the last half hour is about talking? Simple small talk or something you always wanted to know about the business I came from.” 

He felt Noctis’ gaze and Ardyn smirked. “Only if you really want to. Otherwise you would have to endure my rather selfish and narcissistic talking about my past experiences.”

No one said anything against that and the professor nodded in encouragement, perhaps curious herself. Ardyn walked a bit through the room. “No questions?” He raised a brow and came to a standstill. One female student lifted her hand and ducked her head a bit when Ardyn nodded.

“Uhm… What was your weirdest experience, your weirdest shoot?”

Ardyn chuckled, shoulders shaking slightly as he thought back. “Well, there was one with a tiger. An actual living one not some cgi crap. It was intimidating to see the animal for the first time. They assured me she was tame as a little kitten, but one should never underestimate nature and wild animals. Her name was Shiva and she growled when I wanted to get closer to her. Maybe it was a warning or a test on her side.”

“In the end I could stroke her fur and she even purred, being very pliant and lovely. Animals sense when a person wants to threaten them or when they are afraid. They smell the fear and danger.” Ardyn paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, before he continued: “But they also know when the person loves animals. Too many underestimate that they are sensible living beings. Not just some brainless beast.”

He had loved that shoot, because of the tiger. It had been something different and refreshing back then and of course the ad had caused some ripples. People wouldn’t forget this one easily. Ardyn smiled fondly at the memories, although some of the staff from the company that requested this kind of ad had been rude to say the least. He had wondered shortly why, because he hadn’t done anything wrong yet, but it could be that they had been not satisfied with their own little lifes. Now Ardyn could label the behaviour of such people with ease: jealously. People not letting him have this life, growling under their breath that he earned far too much for this little work. But they didn’t know. They hadn’t seen the things he had. The people breaking down under the pressure or the female models nearly starving themselves to death to land the jobs and still being wanted. The constant pressure of being perfect and not making any mistakes. Stumble during a walk and it is over for you, the media ripping this moment apart.

Thank whoever watches over him, that Ardyn never had made such grave mistakes. The one or other tantrum, but not really worth mentioning in his glorious career. Now that he was retired he could enjoy his life more. Take a breath without fearing of falling behind. 

“I do not know what became of her. She was from some Zoo in New York and already an old lady. Still she could have hurt me and really when she started to push her head against my arm I feared she would bite me. But Shiva didn’t.” He didn’t voice his thought, that if something went wrong they would have killed the animal, which would have been a shame. 

And he would have given the people hell on earth.

“Please, tell me you have seen at least this ad, although it is maybe...five or six years old...or perhaps just four?” Ardyn asked and looked at each participant. Of course Noctis nodded and Ardyn’s smile widened. Two other persons nodded, one of them was Mrs. Fuchs. That was something.

“It sure had caused attention. And raised questions if the tiger was treated well or not.” The professor said and Ardyn hummed.

“I remember some nasty reporter asking me and...I defended the crew from the zoo. They had treated her well and like an old lady of a tiger deserved. And she was really calm and the whole ordeal didn’t last long. We even had been at the zoo so there was no need to drive the tiger around and cause her stress and harm her in that way.”

“So that was one fashion company caring about animals?” Noctis asked and Ardyn looked at him, flashing him a smirk.

“Wouldn’t they care, would that mean bad press for them. And people throwing some buckets full of paint at a poor celebrity daring to wear something from them.” Ardyn shrugged then. “I have seen something like that up close. The poor thing was in tears because she had brought the dress herself. It wasn’t some gift from the company. And it was ruined.”

Ardyn let out a deep breath, walking back to the wing chair and sitting down on it. Noctis still seemed to scribble him, he hadn’t stopped even if he could have taken the break. The model smiled again. “But… I admit I am glad that I no longer work for the fashion business. Well, sometimes still but those are small jobs. Nothing to get excited over or pay attention to.”

Ardyn waved his hand dismissively and looked at Noct’s professor, asking in a casual tone: “Do you mind if I want to cut this evening short?”

She looked at her wristwatch and shook her head. “No, even if there are twenty minutes left, but I am sure we can start early on Thursday. So, pack up and we see each other tomorrow.”

The students left as fast as possible as they had done twice before and Ardyn only shook his head, still not understanding why people were so hasty. Noctis on the other hand took his time, shouldering his backpack and walking up to Ardyn.

“Would it be a bother if you drive me home again?”

Ardyn wanted to drag Noctis down and kiss him. “No. On the contrary: it would be my pleasure.”   
  


 

* * *

 

 

Ardyn smiled as Noctis made himself rather comfortable in the passenger seat, wearing a pleased smile on his lips. Ardyn licked his lips and his gaze dropped down to them and then he simply leaned over and claimed them in a kiss. Slow, sensual as Ardyn cradled Noctis’ face between his hands. How could he be so thirsty for Noctis’ lips? The boy in general…

He hadn't jerked off that often in a span of two weeks. And he could get used to it. It was so much more pleasurable and Ardyn moaned slightly into the kiss and Noctis used that exact moment to push his tongue against Ardyn’s. They shifted closer, Ardyn tilting Noctis head to the side and deepening the kiss. 

“I wanted to do that earlier.”, he breathed against his lips and Noctis chuckled. 

“Why didn’t you?” Noctis countered in a gentle whisper.

“Tsk, tsk. There were other people in the room. Hardly appropriate.”

Ardyn carded his fingers through Noctis hair again, loving the feel of his silken strands sliding through them. Wearing his hair down really suited Noctis. Ardyn grinned and leaned to whisper into his ear: “And you look really beautiful today. You should always keep your hair down.” He leaned back to see the reaction of the student and smirked as Noctis only blinked at him, blushing and coughing. “Besides, it is easier to stroke through it.”

Noctis lowered his gaze then. Ardyn tipped his chin up and kissed him slow, unhurried. Ardyn was still parked in the parking lot and he didn’t care if people saw them making out. He wanted to drag Noctis into his lap and just have him there, taking and giving pleasure.

After minutes of simple kissing Ardyn broke away and leaned back. Noctis now dragged a hand through his hair, huffing.

“My exes never were  _ that _ good at kissing. They had no idea how to do it properly.”  Noctis blurted out and Ardyn started to laugh as the student ducked his head.

“Good, now I can show you how it is done right. Toe-curling, leaving you longing for much more and at the same time so satisfied.” Ardyn purred and placed a hand against Noctis’ cheeks and he kissed him again with tongue. The student moaned into it and this spurred the model on further. Ardyn bit the lower lip of the boy, before he licked over it. It was funny how kissing seemed enough for Ardyn now, feeling no desire and urging need to touch the boy again and bringing him to completion. That he could do another day, maybe he should invite the student to a nice evening in a restaurant, chatting away over this or that topic.

Ardyn smiled as he leaned back again, giving him a quick peck on the lips. Then he turned to start his car, choosing on his nav the address he had saved as a second one. Noctis was silent again, glancing then and now at the model and Ardyn knew that questions burned on the young man’s tongue. 

“Spit it out, boy.” He said after minutes of quiet driving and Noctis fully looked at him. Ardyn threw him a glance and smirked, adding: “I don’t bite...unless you want me to then I am happy to oblige.”

“Uh...actually it is quite silly to ask, but where did you learn to kiss that well?” 

Ardyn laughed and then coughed as he saw Noctis’ expression. “I am older than you...and with age comes experience.” Then after a heartbeat  said with an air of arrogance: “And I am a born kisser.”

Noctis snorted as an answer and he visibly relaxed in his seat again. His cheeks slowly returned to his normal skin tone.

“You can switch on the radio if you want….or rather turn the volume up.” 

The student nodded and fumbled with the many buttons until he found the one for the volume. Ardyn remembered which channel he had last switched to and one of the newest pop songs blared out of the speakers. Noctis immediately changed the channel to one that played rock music and smiled.

“Not fond of the newest chart songs?” Ardyn asked and glanced at Noctis who shrugged. God the boy was endearing.

“Nah, they play them all the time and I am just sick of hearing the songs. This one is far better.” Noctis drummed his fingers in time with the beat of the song and Ardyn smiled and before he really realised it , he hummed the tune. Noctis soft voice sounded as he sang the song in a quiet voice.

Ardyn listened and glanced at the raven haired student, sneaking one hand under the hem of his shirt and Noctis yelped, twisting away as the man tried to tickle him. 

“Such a sweet sound you made , ” Ardyn hummed and grinned as Noctis slapped his thigh. “And now you are violent! That’s not nice.” 

The glare he received out of blue sapphires made Ardyn chuckle some more, but the student refrained from punching his thigh again. Ardyn hummed again, as a new song started to play. Well, not that new as TNT blasted. Ardyn looked at the display and smiled as he read star FM. One of the few good radio channels and to his taste.

Too soon Ardyn pulled up Noctis’ road and parked the car, turning off the engine and looking at Noctis with a slightly pouty expression. “Ah, I enjoyed the ride. Only more reason to be sad that we are indeed parting again.”

“Well, we could meet each other outside of the course?” Noctis suggested and looked up at Ardyn with a hopeful gaze.

“We certainly could do that. You can call me anytime, Noct.” Ardyn agreed immediately, not wanting to crush the boy's hopes, when there was no need to do so. The student’s gaze never wavered and then suddenly Ardyn had his arms full of Noctis. Noctis’ lips brushed effortlessly against his, hands tangling in his hair and Ardyn moaned lowly into the kiss. 

Then Noctis broked the kiss and pecked him a few more times, before reluctantly sitting back. “You called me by my nickname. My closest friends do that and only after I gave the permission to do so.” Noctis coughed and added rather hastily: “Of course you can do it too!”

“Did I now?” Ardyn hummed and smirked at Noctis. “Oh, Noct.” 

His voice dropped and he uttered Noct’s name longer than really necessary and the student looked at him with big eyes, swallowing hard. 

“It just happened. And I am glad. Does that mean I am close to you?” Ardyn teased and chuckled when Noctis glared. The boy would counter him now and oh how he loved this! Their little banters and conversations about everything and nothing. It very much looked like Noctis wouldn’t care about his surroundings and what happened in the world, but then the boy would surprise Ardyn with a smart remark casually thrown in and then they would write hours. Now Ardyn would simply call Noctis. 

“You fucking jerked me off in your car! And the...phone call…” Noctis called and grew quieter while he spoke, his face was red again.

“Hm, my hand slipped.” Ardyn teased and almost expected Noctis to punch him again. But Noct just glared at him and it amused Ardyn to no end. Teasing the boy really was his favorite hobby now next to writing and reading of course. “I simply assume now that I am someone special to you and because I can do that…” 

Ardyn then leaned to Noct, capturing his lips in a tender kiss. It was so easy with Noctis, sharing those intimacies and simply talking with him. He was in tune with the younger man and he wished he had met him sooner.  _ Too easy _ , a small voice in his head whispered,  _ young people are so flippant. They say one thing and the next day have the exact opposite opinion. Maybe it is all game for him…a simple fling. _

Ardyn broke the kiss rather suddenly and Noctis mewled in disappointment, following Ardyn as he leaned back and the model pushed him gently away. “Go. Or I  _ will _ keep you from now on.” 

Noctis seemed to struggle and Ardyn could clearly see the inner turmoil the  fought against. Ardyn was tempted to kiss him again, which wouldn't help Noctis one bit. But then Noctis grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, smiling at Ardyn.

“Bye, we write later?” Noctis inquired and tilted his head. Ardyn only nodded and smirked at the student, before he blew him a kiss and chuckled as Noctis rolled his eyes. Then the boy was gone, quickly walking to the front door and unlocking it. Ardyn waited until Noctis had disappeared before he started the car again.

 

* * *

 

It was Wednesday and Ardyn dearly missed Noctis presence already. This feeling had only increased since he had dropped off the student at his home and  cursed himself for...starting to fall for the boy. As the realisation had hit him, he had initially panicked and this little nagging voice at the back of his mind only grew louder.

What if Noctis saw this as something quick? Whatever it was that bloomed between them? What if Noctis left him the first chance he had or when he met a guy younger than Ardyn and closer to the student’s age?

His heart only clenched at those thoughts and he quickly pushed them away again. He should be focussing on writing, because he needed to get the prison scene out of his head. Ardyn had gone back numerous times and written more in some early parts and changed things a bit. Not drastically that it would impact the later draft and he would have to change the plot.

But thoughts of Noctis kept creeping back and with a heavy sigh he put his laptop onto his coffee table and rubbed with one hand over his face and eyes. Then he groaned in frustration and stood up, searching his phone.

Where he had left the damnable thing? 

He walked into his kitchen and found his phone on top of the counter. The light blinked again and Ardyn stood there for a few heartbeats, doing nothing except staring at his phone as if it had personally offended him. Then he grabbed it and unlocked his screen as he saw the three unread messages from Noctis.

_ “Hey, have some free time right now. Still at the uni and waiting for the last class.” _

_ “So, uhm. Where do you live in Berlin? I mean u know where I live so it is only fair.” _

_ “Hope I am no distraction from writing or so.” _

Ardyn smiled down at his smartphone and could imagine that Noctis would have rubbed the back of his neck saying that.

_ “No. I had to take a break. And well, I live somewhere in Mitte if that helps you.” _

A long while nothing happened on the display, except the notification that Noctis was indeed writing an answer. Ardyn sighed and made himself another coffee while he waited and hummed.

_ “Somewhere is very vague. You truly are secretive! But let me guess, if I ask again you would just tease me, right?” _

_ “Exactly.” _

Ardyn smirked at his phone now. Then he did something that was perhaps really foolish, digging himself a deeper hole.

_ “How about I invite you to dinner tomorrow?” _


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *takes a deep breath*  
> I apologize for this long break, but my muse had left me for a while. Don't fear it is back and updates will be more often now.
> 
> So, I do hope you'll like this chapter. It's the date guys!

Noctis blinked at his smartphone, reading the message over and over again. His stomach did this fluttering thing and giddiness overtook him.

_“How about I invite you to dinner tomorrow?”_

He took a deep breath and then replied, _“Well cool. Where?”_

He hated that he sounded so disinterested over the phone when he really smiled like some doofus at his phone. He feared his smile would etch into his face. Noctis could only hope that Ardyn knew him already well enough to tell.

_“That my dear will be a surprise. ;)”_

Noctis sighed, almost expecting such an answer from the former model. Now he was only more curious about the place and prompted the question: What should he wear tomorrow? Casual - as usual - or maybe something more expensive? He still had one of the suits he had to wear at one of those PR-meetings. Black with silver pinstripes.

But perhaps that was too much again?

_“Any special dress code I don’t know of?”_

_“Ah, there is none you have to worry about, Noct.”_

Noctis breathed a sigh of relief, slumping down in his chair. Well, now his last class would be...annoying. He wanted it to be over.

_“Good. It’s after the class then, right?”_

_“Yes, it is. I do hope it will be to your taste.”_

Noctis inquired again, hoping to get a proper answer this time, but to no avail. Ardyn didn’t say anything about the restaurant or where it was. It was frustrating indeed, but nothing he could change and had live with for now.

The professor arrived at that exact moment and he had to put away his phone again, sighing. He wanted the day to end and the next one as well. It would be torture.

 

* * *

 

The class went as usual: Ardyn teasing and joking - and secretly trying to throw Noctis off - and Noctis trying to concentrate and holding up his composure, his poker face. In the last twenty minutes or so the former model started to walk through the room again, seemingly more comfortable with talking while he could move more than just his lips.

Noctis even stopped sketching the former model and looked at the man with a small smile. Ardyn threw him a glance and a smile once in a while. The man had pulled his bathrobe on again.

Soon the professor officially ended the class and Ardyn simply walked up to Noctis to kiss him, not caring for their audience at all, who watched them with varying degrees of shock and surprise. Noctis was hesitant at first, shy even, before he reciprocated. His heart fluttered and his mind came to a sudden halt. Was this _more_ for Ardyn than Noctis had thought?

Excitement bubbled up in his stomach, because if this wasn’t the case then why would he kiss the student in front of other people?

Too soon Ardyn pulled away and smirked at Noctis, whose cheeks were a bright red again. Then the student simply hugged Ardyn before stepping back and out of reach.

He ignored the rest of the students and smiled at the former model. “What was that for?” Noctis asked in a soft voice, tilting his head to the side.

“Ah, just an impulse. I wanted to do that the whole time,” Ardyn said and smiled back. Someone muttered something under their breath and Ardyn shot them a glance.

“Must have been torture,” Noctis teased and grinned now, starting not to be bothered by the other students, who now only reluctantly left the room. Noctis got his backpack and looked at Ardyn rather expectantly and the older male only smiled mysteriously.

“Now, come. Dinner is waiting for us.”

Ardyn left the room without looking back and Noctis followed the model to the ‘dressing room’. It was a small classroom and Ardyn dropped the robe as soon as Noctis closed the door. The student had a perfect view on Ardyn's back and ass.

“Staring is rude, Noct. Hasn't anyone told you that?” the older man teased and looked over his shoulder at Noctis. Then he put on dark green trousers and a black button down shirt. Noctis was silent and simply watched the model.

“Then I am rude all the time,” Noctis countered and walked over to Ardyn, who leaned down to kiss the student deeply and toe-curlingly. Noctis moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around the older man’s neck. Ardyn pulled him closer and they stayed like that for a while, languidly kissing each other. Lips and neck - in Noctis’ case a very sensitive spot near his jaw. Then their lips meet in another deep kiss.

“As much as I love kissing you, we should get going now,” Ardyn whispered against the student's lips. Noctis sighed and took a few steps back as a safety measure.

They walked quickly out of the building, bumping every so often into each other. Sometimes by accident and sometimes not so much. Noctis chuckled and slid into the passenger seat, fastening the seat belt. He took a deep breath as Ardyn joined him in his car and started the dear old thing. The former model smirked at Noctis, then leaned closer and kissed him.

“It isn’t even that far away from your university now that I see the address on the map,” Ardyn murmured and glanced at the nav, even tapping the display. Noctis peered at the screen, shrugging. He never went down that road anyways so he still had no clue where they would dine. Ardyn lowered the volume of the gps’ voice.

Noctis glanced out of the window during the ride, noticing the many restaurants and shops. Of course, near the Ku'damm and Kantstrasse were many restaurants. He smiled at some of the sillier names. Ardyn searched for a free parking space and luckily found one soon enough.

“So, which is it?” Noctis asked and looked around, while closing the car door. There was a restaurant named ‘Lon-Men’s Noodle House’ and he chuckled at the pun. Ardyn tapped his shoulder and smiled.

“This one, Noct,” Ardyn murmured and the student looked at the entrance, raising a brow. There was graffiti smeared on the windows and it looked a bit shady in general. They had to walk a bit, because Ardyn had parked further down the road. “893 Ryôtei, a Japanese restaurant and I promise you the food is delicious.”

“You’ve been here before?” Noctis asked as Ardyn opened the door and motioned the student to go in first.

“Ah, yeah. A couple of times. Though I drove a different way.”

“Good evening,” a waitress greeted them, smiling.

“Good evening. Reservation for Izunia.” Ardyn smiled at the woman, who nodded and showed them to their table.

It was cozy here thanks to the dark walls and the warm light. Even the floor was black and Noctis already liked it here. Only a few people sat in the restaurant and the waitress led them to a table in a corner. There they would have a bit of privacy and Ardyn thanked her for that. Noctis sat down and watched his surroundings some more, before his gaze settled on Ardyn.

The older man discarded his coat and put it over the backrest of the chair, smiling as he caught Noctis’ gaze. The waitress brought them their menus and she asked if they already wanted anything. Ardyn declined and she disappeared again.

Noctis flipped through the menu and was overwhelmed by the many dishes. He had no idea what he should choose and read the names again.

“I can recommend the tori teriyaki steak or the ika tempura. And if you like I would order a bit sushi,” Ardyn said in a low voice after he had watched the student struggle for a while, flipping through the pages back and forth. Noctis looked said dishes up in the menu.

“Yeah, the steak sounds good,” Noctis agreed and smiled at Ardyn.

The waitress came back to their table and Ardyn ordered the meals, not even stumbling over the pronunciation of the words. Then she asked for drinks and Ardyn looked at Noctis, who snapped out of his daze and amazement.

“What would you like to drink, Noct?” Ardyn asked, raising one brow.

“Uhm…” Noctis said eloquently and blinked at the menu. He was unsure what to choose and looked back at Ardyn. He didn’t want a Coke or something else that he could get cheaper in a supermarket. Ardyn didn’t seem to mind that he was the one to choose and he flashed the waitress a smile.

“Two bottles of Asahi and a bottle chardonnay Pur, please.”

The waitress jotted down the order and nodded politely before walking into the kitchen area. Noctis looked around again, not really sure what he should say or do now.

“Why so shy all of a sudden, Noctis?” Ardyn teased and placed his chin into the palm of his hand. It was such a casual gesture and it looked so beautiful that Noctis stared at Ardyn. He took a deeper breath now and smiled.

“I...dunno. It is a different situation…” he said and didn’t want to label it as a date, although it obviously was one.

“We have time to talk to each other. That might be a bit frightening, because it will be longer than usual and I don’t simply drive you home, dear.”

“It’s not that…”

“Because this is a date?” Ardyn asked and raised a brow again, a small smile tugging at his lips now. It bordered on smug and teasing.

Noctis was quiet and looked at the table, blushing again. Ardyn chuckled, his eyes sparkling and he tilted his head to the side. The man clearly had fun tormenting Noctis. Yes, _tormenting_. This couldn’t be called teasing anymore. The waitress brought them their drinks at that moment, setting down rather big wine glasses and the ones filled with the beer. She poured them their glasses, smiled and went away again. The former model lifted the glass with the chardonnay and smiled charmingly at the student.

“A nice evening?” he asked and Noctis followed suit, gently clinking the glasses together.

He made a face at the chardonnay. It tasted bitter in the beginning and sweet at the end and Noctis wasn’t sure if he liked the taste. Ardyn only smiled and watched Noctis closely.

“A nice evening,” he coughed and tried to smile at the former model. Ardyn’s smirk only widened and the man put down his glass again.

“Not fond of this sort of alcohol?” the older man teased, cocking his head.

“My first chardonnay. That is all. Maybe I will like it after all.”

Ardyn lifted his glass again and took a small sip, licking his lips. Noctis’ eyes fixated on those lips and he licked his own. Then he looked out of the window, watching the people go by. The former model chuckled and followed suit.

“It has something calming to simply watch, don't you think?”

“Yeah, and sometimes I start wondering what might go on in their heads. What plagues their minds? Or whether they have to be somewhere? Of if they think of anything in particular,” Noctis said and glanced at Ardyn. _Sometimes I wanna know what you are thinking…_

He couldn't ask; not now and probably not ever. One evening not so long ago, he had started to dread the end of the whole _thing_. Would it end once the painting class was over? Noctis didn't want that and he hoped that Ardyn felt the same.

Noctis had started watching the older man and Ardyn’s smile was gentle, calm and genuine. Nothing like his usual smirk, that told everyone he would reply with a witty remark. The lines on the man’s face were smoothed out by the low light of the ceiling lamps and the candle on the table. The tinted windows didn't let in much daylight - or in this case the fading light of the day. There was only a small blue stripe left, while the sky darkened and called forth the night.

Noctis attention was caught by the arriving dinner. The steak and the arrangement of the dish as a whole looked interesting, but delicious as well. As did the sushi and Ardyn's meal. The student enjoyed his food a lot, even accidentally moaning a bit, which of course didn't go unnoticed. If Ardyn's stare was anything to go by. There was that glint again, the faint promise of something really enjoyable.

Noctis blinked and pointedly looked at his meal, gaze straying every so often back to the older man. Ardyn was so freaking attractive it should have been illegal! Noctis stomach did flips and other squeezy things and the student pushed the thoughts away that would take him places he didn't want to go right now.

They were dating, that much was clear by now. Nothing more, nothing less.

The waitress took their now empty plates away and there was still the sushi left. He curiously gazed at the small rolls. Some had a crust and were possibly fried, others had seaweed around them and a few were just rice with a bit of salmon on top. Noctis picked up the chopsticks and looked down at them, not knowing how to eat the sushi. He couldn't simply use his fork right now - or worse his fingers.

Ardyn seemed to know what bothered Noct and the man smiled as he caught the student's attention. “You have to hold them like this between your fingers. Your middle or index finger is the one you move. Yeah, just like that.” Noctis stared down and frowned trying to pick up a sushi roll and failing at it. The sushi plopped back down onto the plate. He tried it once more and the roll fell down again.

“Doesn't work…” he mumbled and looked at the chopsticks with an accusing glare, while Ardyn chuckled at the display before him.

“You only need to practice some more, then you will get the hang of it. See…” Ardyn picked up the sushi roll with his chopsticks and held it up for Noctis to eat. The student blinked surprised at the other man and then blushed, before he hastily took the roll and ate it. There was no need for Ardyn to feed him like some child!

But Ardyn's smile was genuine this time and Noctis smiled shyly back at Ardyn, before trying to pick up another roll. This time it worked and the student's eyes flashed with happiness as he munched on it. The rice was sticky and after another roll, Noctis was full and put down the chopsticks, breathing out deeply.

The older man's smile never wavered, not even as he dipped the last sushi roll into the wasabi and ate it without a care. Noctis was impressed. He had tried wasabi once out of curiosity and he thought might die from its spiciness and tears had sprung to his eyes. Afterwards he had vowed to never touch that green stuff again.

“Now, how did you like the food?” Ardyn asked and refilled Noctis’ wine glass, eyes sparkling in the light of the candle.

“Fucking delicious. Missed out on a few things this whole time…” Noctis said and chuckled, rubbing the side of his neck with his hand, gaze straying to the window again. “Need to go here more often now… Although it is all a bit pricey.”

He had a bit of money in his bank account, but that was saved up for dire times - and his father did transfer some additional funds every month. But his father stopped asking him for a family meeting or brunch. He had given up after Noctis had always declined or hadn't answered at all. He felt bad sometimes, but he had Ignis.

Though he had the suspicion that Ignis kept informing Regis about Noctis and what he was up to. Ignis, of course, never said a word. The man was discretion personified and Noctis didn’t want to talk about his father.

“Noct?”

Ardyn’s voice brought him out of reverie and he blinked at the model with a confused gaze. The man’s smile widened again.

“A penny for you thought,” Ardyn said quietly, placing his chin on his hand, watching Noctis with a steady gaze. Noctis shifted in his seat and shook his head, unwilling to reveal that part of his life. Ardyn was still a stranger somewhat - maybe a friend with benefits. Kind of. Noctis wasn’t really sure about that part, because they hadn’t talked about their relationship yet. Wasn’t communication a vital part in this? But Noctis had never been good at this and he didn’t want to have expectations that ultimately would be destroyed.

“Ah, nothing that is worth mentioning now,” Noctis said and waved his hand dismissively, though Ardyn still watched him with a curious glint in his eyes. Noctis knew that the man wouldn't let this die down so fast now, but Ardyn sighed and nodded.

“So, another time?”

“Maybe…” Noctis muttered and glanced to the side, biting the inside of his cheek. Ardyn hadn’t asked him about his family, nor had he mentioned that he had seen Noct in the tabloids or short TV clips. In return, Noctis hadn't stuck his nose into Ardyn’s private life. Except by asking where he lived exactly. The media already published rumour after rumour, debating where Ardyn had suddenly come from.

Because the man's past was still a mystery. No one had figured him out yet. Maybe Noctis was the first one to discover everything, but… It didn’t felt like that. Doubts still clouded his mind and he tried to push them as far away as possible. He didn’t want to sour the mood, so he smiled at Ardyn again, albeit a bit forced.

It seemed as if Ardyn really could read him like an open book, sensing the shifts in Noctis’ mood. Ardyn chuckled low in his throat and leaned a bit forward, lowering his voice to a whisper, “You can trust me, Noct. But I won't push for answers. I have the feeling that you wouldn't react that well being pushed into a corner.”

Noctis blinked at Ardyn, surprised that he knew him so well already. Then the student looked away, not really being able to hold that gaze out of amber eyes. “Sorry…”

“No need to apologize, Noctis.” Ardyn steered the conversation back into safe territory and he shamelessly flirted with the student again, pulling every trick possible to woo a person and Noctis went with it. How could he not? He needed to learn to be sarcastic and witty with Ardyn.

Noctis smiled at the former model, as the man once more dwelt on some memories - a shoot in Madrid in the midday sun in summer, wearing black on top of that. All for a perfume.

“It was a well paid job, so I couldn't complain and the locals where a delight to talk to.”

“Don't tell me you speak Spanish?” Noctis asked in disbelief and raised a brow.

“Un poco. Only the simple things.” Ardyn shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

“I speak the tiniest bit of French.”

“Ah, the language of love. The dirtiest things still sound melodic and poetic to the people. _Oh, comme j'aimerais te sucer ici et maintenant._ ”

Noctis blushed a deep red, understanding what Ardyn had said to him. “Don't say that!” he hissed, glancing around. The other guests were unfazed and Noctis sighed.

“But it is true. I quite like the taste.”

Ardyn's grin was positively smug, while Noctis tried his best to recover from the response. There he thought he could handle Ardyn and then the man had to kick down his walls saying things like _that_.

“And I gather from your response that you learned French back in school? Well, next to English that is. It sure is interesting _what_ you have learned.”

“Isn’t it an unspoken rule to learn the dirty stuff and swear words first?”

Ardyn chuckled and lifted the wine glass to his lips, taking his time to sip the chardonnay. Noctis’ gaze was fixated on the man's lips. He knew the taste of them.

“It may be, but now our conversation can be really interesting. Don't you think?”

Noctis didn't comment on that, but glared at Ardyn. The man only wanted Noctis to be embarrassed and make him blush on top of that! As if that didn't happen enough already. Amber eyes twinkles at him and Noctis sighed.

“Well, maybe? I don't really know, but sure: for you it will be definitely interesting.”

Ardyn hummed as an answer, pleased with himself. Then the older man grabbed the menu again and lifted his hand to signal the waitress that they would like to order something else. The chardonnay was nearly empty and they had finished their beer, but it wasn't drinks that the man ordered, but some dessert. Matcha Tiramisu? Whatever Matcha was, but Noctis was so up for tiramisu. Something sweet to finish their date. In the end Ardyn ordered some water as well. He would be driving later and getting caught drunk behind the steering wheel would be truly unfortunate.

Noctis’ stomach felt a bit fuzzy and his head felt a bit light headed. Although he had eaten he was at least a bit tipsy. Enough to lower his barrier a bit. His second glass of chardonnay was still half full. Sipping, he glanced at Ardyn again, who checked his phone for the first time this evening, a slight crease on his brows. Noctis wondered what was going on and as Ardyn caught him watching, the sour expression on his face vanished.

“Only some fashion bloke bothering me. Wasn't a pleasant experience,” Ardyn answered Noctis unasked question. Noctis liked Ardyn more with a pleased smile on his lips and for the first time he was glad not to be on the bad side of the former model. He could imagine that Ardyn could be really intimidating, if he wanted to be.

“Why don't you change your number?”

“That would be more of a nuisance for me.”

“Uhm...okay…”

“I got to know a lot of people over the years and with some I do occasionally write or a few offer me some jobs still. To tell them my new number would be straining and believe me, I would need to inform a lot of people. Besides, isn't it always on such occasions that you lose some friends and acquaintances, because they don't get the memo?”

Noctis wanted to say something, but shut his mouth again. He didn't know this feeling or couldn't relate to Ardyn right now. He could count the number of close friends he had with his two hands.

“No...I...well I have only few close friends. That's why I can't imagine that...problem…”

Ardyn smiled and shook his head. “Don't dwell on my worries. It's just poor old me. Maybe one day I will change it, when I am ready to cut the ties with my past career.”

“Ready?”

Ardyn only smiled at that, but it didn't really reach his eyes. Perhaps some bad memories kept him from turning his back entirely away and fully concentrate on writing. Or maybe Ardyn was nostalgic, who knew?

Noctis watched Ardyn with big eyes. The man leaned a bit forward, gaze solely focused on the student now. “But I do wonder why you don't have many friends? I mean, you are kind and you have a really dark sense of humour sometimes. It eludes me really…”

“I am...uhh not so good with people? Like hell, I am an utter idiot most of the time.”

Ardyn snorted and shook his head, murmuring, “Everyone's a bit … awkward in the beginning. You don't know the person and how they may judge your behaviour. Tiptoeing is what most people do. Rather straining. I like those more who simply behave like themselves, or a shy version of themselves.” He grinned at Noctis now, who coughed and sniffed. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back and looked rather cross with the former model.

The alcohol really helped to ease his nerves and his hammering heart. It all was so exciting and Noctis still felt like this was all just a dream. Ardyn had been his crush in his teenage years and through him he had realized that he was drawn more to his own gender than women.

“I _was_ awkward. I mean, I stared at your…” Noctis said and lowered his voice, “dick.”

“Oh, how sweet your expression was. It almost looked surprised. Hadn't expected that I am well endowed?”

Noctis cheeks were aflame and he ducked his head, throwing Ardyn a death glare. Yes, he had stared, but to simply assume that he had been surprised! (He had been, but he didn't need to admit that out loud to Ardyn, did he?) The student snorted and frowned.

“Tch, one could guess from all those near naked photos,” Noctis countered and immediately regretted that, because Ardyn's grin was _so_ smug right now. Shit, he has given Ardyn another opportunity to tease him.

But thankfully their desserts arrived and Noctis was spared Ardyn's teasing remark. The tiramisu really looked delicious - and was oddly green coloured.

“That's the green tea, Noct. Try it. It is really delicious,” Ardyn prompted and took a bite of his own, rumbling deep in his chest. He almost looked like a cat now with that satisfied smile on his lips.

Noctis glanced back down at his tiramisu and took a tentative bite, a surprised hum falling from his lips and then he really dug in. He enjoyed that dessert and licked his lips after he was finished to chase the taste. “That was really really good,” he said after a pause.

Ardyn's lips only curled up more and he downed the rest of his chardonnay and for a second he broke the character of the gentleman with that gesture. Noctis chuckled and drank his last bit at a slower pace, closing his eyes as the liquid ran down his throat and warmed his insides some more.

Noctis really couldn't stomach alcohol. It was a small miracle that he could down a cocktail without slurring in the end. The hangover always was the worst for him afterwards. It wouldn't be much different this time.

“I will drive you home,” Ardyn said and looked at Noct with an almost fond gaze, amber eyes glowing with warmth.

“Aren't you drunk?”

“I wouldn't say drunk. I am still capable of driving straight and if I am careful enough, nothing will happen,” Ardyn tried to reassure Noct and the student slowly nodded. Ardyn didn't seem very different now and he couldn't say no to the older man.

“We would like to pay,” he announced as one of the waitress’ coworkers was near and the man nodded.

 

* * *

 

Noctis fumbled for his keys, having a hard time finding them in his backpack because a certain someone clung to him like a leech and pressed kisses to his neck. Ardyn mumbled something under his breath, hot against the slightly wet skin there and Noctis sighed.

The car ride back to his home had been the usual. A little bit of small talk, much like in the restaurant and some comments that bordered on lewd. Only this time Ardyn had insisted on bringing him to his home all the way and that meant escorting him to his door. Someone had left the front door open. They had stumbled up the stairs, because Ardyn couldn't keep his hands off Noctis.

“I apologize, but I couldn't help myself. Maybe this is the alcohol’s effect after all,” Ardyn murmured into Noctis ear and the student finally had enough of it and turned around to face the taller man. Only to be pressed against the door as lips crashed down on his. Noctis moaned into the kiss, dropping his backpack and wrapping his arms around Ardyn's neck. The keys hit against something in his backpack, but Noctis didn't care right now.

His fingers dug into the skin of Ardyn's neck and he stroked Ardyn's back with his other hand. The man had left his coat on the backseat of his car and Noctis could feel the muscles beneath the shirt that shifted with every tiny movement. He knew what Ardyn looked like nude and to a degree when he was aroused, but not in the throes of passion. That was something Noctis wanted to know. No, _needed_ to know.

He kissed back harder and with more passion, drawing out a low moan from Ardyn. Maybe they should relocate what they were doing to the safety of Noctis’ flat and excitement bubbled up in his stomach. Would they really take the step?

They broke the kiss for air, and Noctis needed a few moments to gather his thoughts. Ardyn's pupils were blown wide now and only a small ring of gold was visible. Noctis dragged the man back down to kiss him. Gentler this time with the lingering question on his lips that now hung unspoken in the air.

“Shouldn't we continue this in my flat?” Noctis whispered, barely audible, but Ardyn heard him nonetheless and he smiled.

“As much as I would love that ... I think we should wait a little bit more and not be drunk for the occasion,” Ardyn answered and looked apologetically at the student. Although there was a struggle in his eyes.

Noctis _was_ a bit disappointed - apparently a bit more because Ardyn pressed quick kisses to his lips and cheeks, whispering a quiet ‘I am sorry’ and then the man pulled him into his arms, bodies flush against each other and Noctis could feel how much Ardyn wanted him. The older man's lips found his neck again and then Noctis moaned quietly, digging one hand into the auburn mane and tugging at the hair. Ardyn simply sucked a bruise into his neck - one that would be difficult to hide yet again!

“Don't worry, dear,” Ardyn murmured into his ear. His voice was so velvety smooth, even deeper when he whispered and that voice would be the end of Noctis one day. That he was sure of! “The main course will only be better the longer we wait.”

Noctis bit his lips and then boldly cupped Ardyn through his trousers, feeling up the man's erection that strained against the fabric. Ardyn groaned and pressed Noctis into the door, kissing him fiercely again.

“Ardyn, stop...hgn. Stop for a second, so I can unlock the door!” Noctis cried and gently pushed Ardyn away. The man let him, his eyes glinting with amusement and he dutifully took a step backwards. Noctis retrieved his backpack from the ground and rummaged through it again, fishing out his keys with a triumphant ‘There you are!’ and unlocked his door.

The former model dragged Noctis back into a kiss, all teeth and tongue, and Noctis in turn tried to drag Ardyn into his flat, but as soon as the older man realised that, he broke the kiss and smiled.

“You really are stubborn,” he commented and touched Noctis’ cheek. The student leaned into the touch and smirked. He saw that as a compliment and it probably was meant as one. It was Ardyn after all.

“C’mon…” Noctis almost begged, looking up at the older man with big blue eyes. He hoped that he looked cute enough to sway Ardyn. He saw the struggle in those amber eyes. Ardyn wanted him - badly. “Please.”

Ardyn heaved a deep sigh and then to Noctis utter delight the man pushed him into his flat. The former model crushed his lips with that of the student.

“You _will_ be the death of me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn says in French that he wants to suck Noctis right there in the restaurant

**Author's Note:**

> You can talk to me on my twitter [crolivsart](https://twitter.com/crolivsart).


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